PepsiCo Snacks

The unit in UP makes Lays potato chips, the plan is to add a new line to churn out nacho chip brand Doritos

Estimates indicate that volumes for the whole year for beverages will be down to a third of last year, despite the push by soft drink companies to go online

Sales of snacks under the company's Frito-Lay North America unit, rose 7% in the quarter

Experts say that this is the best time for a small brand to aim big, but warn that Balaji has two big challenges to contend with

PepsiCo is following what has increasingly become the norm, using endorsers to kickstart a campaign that is taken forward by influencers on social media

The company finesses the regional game for Lay's and Kurkure, acquires local tastes and habits to beat back competition from home grown snack makers

The new investment plan is in line with PepsiCo's goal to double its snacks business in the country by 2022

New Delhi, 19 September Despite being an early bird in this category, PepsiCo India faces tough competition in branded packaged snacks, despite a surge in the country's consumption of these. PepsiCo was a pioneer, introducing global standard potato chips under the Lays label and crunchy snacks under Kurkure. Today, it stands behind two local entities, Haldiram Foods and Balaji Wafers, in the Rs 335.6-billion savoury snacks market. And ITC, now at fourth spot, is catching up. Parle Products is fifth. Till 2016, PepsiCo was ahead of ITC and Balaji. What has remained constant is the underlying theme of the market, where regional flavour is the consumer's preference. Four of the top five companies are home-grown and have portfolios skewed towards traditional Indian tastes. Haldiram's and Balaji are known for typical traditional snacks and late entrant ITC has also relied on basic Indian tastes for success. "The population in different regions of India are migrating towards urban business .