DAIRY BRIDGE BETWEEN BEVERAGES AND SNACKS

Now that PepsiCo has announced plans to buy 66% of the Wimm-Bill-Dann dairy and juice business in Russia, you can hear the strategy engine being revved up. Chief pilot Indra Nooyi has already made it clear she wants to treble the group’s healthier products portfolio from $10 billion sales in 2010 to $30 billion by 2020. Wimm-Bill-Dann will ensure the plan(e) is ready for take off at the same time as ticking off many of the right boxes. Russia is an emerging market. PepsiCo will become its leading food and drink player. Wimm-Bill-Dann has three main activities of dairy, beverages and baby food – all in the nutritional sweet spot. The company also has a very strong management team. The dairy dimension is now a crucial part of the strategy. In the Financial Times, Indra Nooyi was reported as saying: “Dairy has a huge untapped potential to bridge snacks and beverages. We see the emerging opportunity to ‘snackify’ beverages and ‘drinkify’ snacks as the next frontier in food and beverage convenience.” You can’t say you haven’t been told. I think I prefer the idea of snackification to drinkification.