PepsiCo, Inc. NYSE: PEP is a global American beverage and snack company. The company manufactures, markets and sells a variety of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages as well as salty, sweet and grain-based snacks, and other foods.

Besides the Pepsi-Cola brands (including Mountain Dew), the company manufactures Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Tropicana. In many ways, PepsiCo differs from its competitor The Coca-Cola Company, having three times as many employees, larger revenues, but a smaller net profit (See comparison at Yahoo Finance). The company formed for distribution and bottling is the Pepsi Bottling Group NYSE: PBG. PepsiCo is a SIC 2080 (beverage) company.

History

Headquartered in Purchase, New York, The Pepsi Company began in 1898, but it only became known as PepsiCo when it merged with Frito Lay in 1965. Until 1997, it also owned Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, but these fast-food restaurants were spun off into Tricon Global Restaurants, now Yum! Brands, Inc. PepsiCo purchased Tropicana in 1998, and Quaker Oats in 2001.

Diversity

PepsiCo received a 100 percent rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report.