Dubai: PepsiCo, a global food and beverage company, on Sunday announced the opening of its first innovation facility in the Middle East. The facility, located at Dubiotech in Dubai, will be a hub of new products and flavours for Pepsico’s regional businesses, the company said in a statement.
“The creation of this centre is a key component in our overall plan to drive growth in emerging and developing markets globally and to advance our innovation footprint and capabilities across the region,” stated Omar Farid, President for the Middle East and Africa at PepsiCo.
The new facility features a culinary centre and test laboratories that will develop and tailor PepsiCo food and beverage brands for local taste preferences in the region.
Asked if the company was looking to introduce new brands in the Middle East, Farid told Gulf News in an email interview: “For competitive reasons, we are not going to discuss new brand introductions in the Middle East or specific timing. We have nothing to announce today.”
Commenting on the revenue from this market, he said that in 2013, Pepsico’s global revenue was “more than $66 billion” (Dh242 billion). “And in our Asia, Middle East and Africa market (AMEA), full year revenue was $6.5b.”
The company nearly tripled its business in emerging and developing markets from $8 billion in annual net revenue in 2006 to $23 billion in 2013.
“We remain committed to emerging markets, as they have a long runway for growth, driven by increasing demand for our safe, convenient, on-trend, affordable products, supported by a rapidly growing middle class. We are well positioned to capitalise on these opportunities,” he added, without divulging further details.
Farid further said that the company’s investment in research and development is paying off.
“The investments that we have made to transform our global research and development capabilities are paying off and have resulted in a wave of successful innovations across the company — eight per cent of Pepsico’s global net revenue comes from products launched in the past three years,” he said.
Meanwhile, the new Dubai facility will work with other PepsiCo R&D locations around the world to share insights and best practices. “PepsiCo continues to build global research and development capabilities that are differentiating our brands in the marketplace and driving attractive new growth opportunities,” Jan Weststrate, Senior Vice President R&D PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and Africa, said in a statement.
PepsiCo has a portfolio of 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales.
“Locally relevant product innovations launched in recent years include Lay’s Forno potato chips and Tropicana Frutz, which thanks to their success in the region, are now both being rolled out across other international markets,” Farid said.
