Part of our process in developing this month’s annual “Top 50 Snack & Bakery Companies” list involves reviewing annual reports and communications with shareholders from some of the top companies working in grain-based foods today.
During this research, I was struck by some of the specific language Ramon Luis Laguarta, chairman, president and CEO of PepsiCo used as he discussed strategies for growth at Frito-Lay during a call to investors after the release of PepsiCo’s fiscal 2018 annual report. In his comments, he noted increasing U.S. demand for “permissible and premium” snacks. He then noted that Frito-Lay has sought to meet this need via Frito-Lay brand extensions like the “Simply” products that have rolled out under the company’s iconic Lay’s, Ruffles, Doritos and Cheetos brands—bringing incrementally improved nutrition and cleaner labels—among other brand strategies. He also called out the SunChips brand—one that has brought label-friendly use of vegetables into some of the substrates used for the brand’s 100 percent multigrain snack chips in recent years.