PepsiCo said its India business will not be impacted by the company’s divestment of Tropicana and other select juice brands in the US and Europe announced on Tuesday. “The transaction announced today by PepsiCo applies to the company’s juice brands only in the US, Canada and Europe,” a PepsiCo India spokesperson said in an emailed response to ET’s query after the New York-based PepsiCo announced that it is selling Tropicana, Naked and other select juice brands to private equity firm PAI Partners.
In India, Tropicana trails Dabur’s Real by a significant margin in terms of market share. The domestic packaged juices market is estimated at about Rs 1,350 crore, led by Real and followed by Tropicana and ITC’s B Natural. However, Tropicana juice and Quaker oats are core brands within PepsiCo India’s ‘health-focused portfolio’ of products, which also makes Pepsi cola and Lay’s potato chips.
For the quarter ended June 2021, PepsiCo’s largest bottling partner Varun Beverages Ltd (VBL) said in an earnings statement that while carbonated soft drinks constituted 78% of overall sales volume in the quarter, juices accounted for 7% of the sales.
PepsiCo’s divestment will result in combined pre-tax cash proceeds of about $3.3 billion while the company will retain a 39% non-controlling interest in a newly formed joint venture, said the company.