I remind them of India everyday, says Pepsico president Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo’S Indian face, says the $27-billion foods and beverages giant will invest $300m-$500 mn into its India operations ...

Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo’S Indian face, says the $27-billion foods and beverages giant will invest $300m-$500 mn into its India operations over the next five years and clearly indicated that the fast-growing snack foods business was going to be the growth driver in the country.

‘‘They (the top PepsiCo team) just have to look at me, and they see India — I remind them of it everyday,’’ says Nooyi, among the world’s most powerful women in business and touted as the next head of PepsiCo.

At the same time, the President and CFO at PepsiCo was quick to stress that it is seeking a level-playing field from the Indian government on the issue of standards of carbonated soft-drinks. ‘‘The current administration is working on it in a scientific way, and I hope good sense prevails,’’ said the 46-year-old graduate of Madras Christian College and IIM-Calcutta in a media interaction.

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Nooyi’s visit comes on the eve of the government proposing to introduce the Food Safety and Standards Act in Parliament. The new laws are expected to set stringent standards on traceability of contaminants and labelling on the processed foods industry.

On the ongoing debate over food standards, Nooyi says her reaction is ‘‘a sad shake of the head’’. Reiterating that Pepsi meets the strictest global standards, she says, ‘‘An arbitrary label for just soft-drink brands creates a distortion in the marketplace.’’

Last year, the Rajasthan High Court delivered an order that soft-drink firms should specify on their labels the content and composition of the product, including the presence of pesticides and chemicals, if any.

With revenues of $700 million, India is PepsiCo’s fifth-largest market outside the US. According to Nooyi, PepsiCo makes cash profits in India, a ‘‘rising star’’. India has an annual per capita consumption of 10-15 bottles of carbonated beverages. Despite huge investments, both Pepsi and Coke’s beverages operations are reportedly still in the red.

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Clearly, the snacks business — which has grown five-fold in the past four years — is lifting PepsiCo’s fortunes. Nooyi says the company is now looking at tripling this business in the next three years or so, and is even testing Leher Kurkure for the US and UK markets.

‘‘At the rate of the snacks business growth, we require more capacities…if snacks keeps growing at the rate it’s growing, it’s going to overtake beverages,’’ said Nooyi. In the snacks business, Nooyi says there isn’t a market that is growing as fast as India.

On future plans, the company will launch Lipton ice tea all over the country this summer. Gatorade, its sports drink, will also be bottled in India this year. The company is also seriously considering bringing some products from Quaker Oats into the country.

Some Nooyisms

		• ON FDI TASKFORCE: The core team — Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, Vinod Khosla, Parag Saxena, and myself — worked hard to finalise our report to the PM on how India can hike annual FDI inflows to $10 billion. We also had 40 senior managers on board who gave us regular inputs. India can easily meet the target. We submitted the report to the PM early this year. • ON FDI POTENTIAL: There’s so much low-hanging fruit, it’s fantastic. Opportunities abound. Many sectors are crying for investment. But India is a not a friendly country to bring in FDI. We don’t have a systematic approach towards regions. We need to build infrastructure, hand the welcoming mat. • ON INDIAN MANAGERS: India is a good hunting ground — companies not doing so would be losing out. Young Indian managers should think global and learn languages. For instance, while in India, I learnt French, German and Italian, and this has been one of the wisest decisions I have made.