PepsiCo Inc., the world’s largest food and beverage business, said on Thursday that its first-quarter profit dropped slightly from a year ago, as the food and beverage giant hiked prices to try and keep up with rising ingredient costs.
The company’s net income in the quarter declined 1.4% to $1.13 billion, or 71 cents a share, compared with $1.14 billion, or 71 cents a share, in the period a year earlier.
Chief executive Officer Indra Nooyi said that the company introduced new flavors in emerging markets to boost sales.
“We’ve made good progress in Q1,” said Ms. Nooyi, referring to the first quarter. “We expect momentum to continue building throughout the year.”
PepsiCo’s product mix consists of 63 percent foods, and 37 percent beverages. On a worldwide basis, the company’s current products lines include several hundred brands: Tropicana, 7Up, Doritos, Lipton Teas, Quaker Foods, Cheetos, Mirinda, Ruffles, Aquafina, Pepsi Max, Tostitos, etc.
