PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Ramon Laguarta: Yeah. And I would say the commercial teams have done a great job in minimizing elasticity. So going into the year, of course, we were assuming a level of elasticity that was more based on historical levels. I think we’ve been positively surprised on the strength of the brands in some markets. And obviously, as I said earlier, the consequence of the investment we’ve been making. But the way the teams have executed innovation, have executed range expansion, multiple displays around the store and some of the tactics we normally use to drive volume and minimize elasticities have been really well executed. I think we link it as well to as being a more intelligent company in a broader sense, having better data, having better digitalization and execution capabilities. So it is all connected. And yeah, we feel good about how the business performed in that respect versus what we had initially planned.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Filippo Falorni with Citi. Your line is open.

Filippo Falorni: Hey. Good morning, everyone. A quick question on Frito-Lay North America. Clearly, very strong results in the quarter. But over the last couple of weeks, we have seen a bit of a slowdown in track channels. So the first question is, what do you think is driving the recent slowdown, partly is obviously cycling high price realization, but also just general sense on what you’re seeing from a volume standpoint. And then, also why are you seeing untracked channels in that business? Thank you.

Ramon Laguarta: Yeah. The Frito-Lay is having a tremendous year again on top of a very good ’22. And it’s been driven by our large brands performing very well, linking to what I said earlier about very strong brand programs and commercial programs. The away-from-home business and the small store independent business where there is a lot of impulse consumption is not really reflected normally by a lot of the reports that you’ve probably seen. So that might be a gap there. And obviously, in the summer, this is very relevant as people move around more. But we’re seeing — the only thing we’re seeing in Frito-Lay in the last few weeks is the lapping versus the P6 price increase we did last year. So that’s the only element. Everything else, we’re seeing a much better supply chain.

So our service levels to our key customers is improving a lot. That’s good news because we were a little bit handicapped in the last year and first half of this year, we’re seeing much broader portfolio. So the smaller SKUs that drive — we know they drive frequency and they drive penetration in some sub-consumers. So we’re seeing a lot of positive trends, some of our innovation. If you think about minis or if you think about some of the new launches like the jerky product or a relaunch of the nuts and seeds, our permissible portfolio, they’re really doing very well, along with our big brands. So we feel good about the portfolio composition and the continued executional capabilities of Frito to drive availability universally almost. So we’re feeling good about the business.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our last question comes from Gerald Pascarelli with Wedbush Securities. Your line is open.

Gerald Pascarelli: Hi. Thanks very much for the question. Mine is also on energy drinks, specifically regarding near-term distribution opportunities. You’ve obviously been a great partner for Celsius since you took over distribution of their products, which has been readily apparent in measured channels. But looking forward, how do you think about the opportunity to penetrate some of the non-measured channels that have yet to scratch the surface, specifically related to food service, like, college campuses as an example? I mean the comprehensive rollout of these products, something we should expect in the back half of this year or is that more of a 2024 opportunity? I guess any incremental color you could provide on timing and then the potential halo effect that Celsius could have on your legacy portfolio of energy products would be helpful? Thank you.