
PepsiCo is in the middle of its biggest snack reset in years
From SKU cuts and factory closures to functional launches and acquisitions, PepsiCo is moving fast to streamline and prove its snack empire still matters

From SKU cuts and factory closures to functional launches and acquisitions, PepsiCo is moving fast to streamline and prove its snack empire still matters

From buffalo pastry pockets and protein scone bites to sprouted nuts, snack mixes and football-fuelled crisps, brands are pushing harder on flavour, format and occasion

From halted breakups to billion-dollar buyouts, the world’s biggest food groups aren’t just tweaking products, they’re rethinking how growth works

The soda and snacks giant can now add another feather to its cap: it’s becoming a restaurateur

PepsiCo’s Lay’s restaurant in Madrid highlights a growing strategy among snack giants to extend blockbuster brands beyond the supermarket shelf and into cafés, retail attractions and immersive consumer experiences

From Oreo’s $4bn global machine to Uncrustables’ rapid ascent, the snack aisle’s biggest names are banking billions and still investing like challengers

Plant closures across PepsiCo, Smucker and Campbell’s reveal a structurally slower snack market adjusting to selective consumers and GLP-1 disruption

Protein has become expected – and delivering it at scale without breaking flavour, cost or compliance is testing manufacturers like never before

Financially stretched but digitally fluent, the world’s youngest adult consumers are forcing food and drink brands to explain themselves

As consumer appetite changes and nutrient scrutiny intensifies, protein is moving from differentiator to design standard

From PepsiCo to Nestlé, global giants are racing to cash in on the booming functional food craze, but with trends shifting fast, the stakes have never been higher

CEO calls the move a ‘surgical investment’ as the company integrates Siete Foods, Poppi and its expanded Celsius partnership while preparing relaunches of Gatorade and Quaker Oats

In a marketing culture obsessed with speed and efficiency, Southern Connecticut State University associate professor Amit Singh argues the Super Bowl exposes an uncomfortable truth about how real brand power is actually built

From Peyton Manning to a polar bear, there’s plenty in store for Super Bowl LX

In a near-$700bn global market, a handful of companies now decide what scales, what sticks and what survives, and in 2026, the power gap is only widening

From cereal brands breaking decades-long silence to snack giants doubling down on celebrity and spectacle, Super Bowl 2026 is becoming a referendum on where brand marketing goes next

From street food-inspired rice cups to Mexican corn chips, big food makers are betting that spicy flavors and convenient formats will resonate with shoppers

PepsiCo AI start-up winner, cell-cultured cocoa and more feature in this edition of Science Shorts

The market reaction to Donald Trump’s dietary overhaul isn’t about kale versus cookies – it’s about whether Washington has finally decided the packaged food sector needs firmer rules, not friendlier guidance

PepsiCo’s deal with Elliott Investment Management has triggered sweeping cuts to its snack portfolio and a shift toward sharper pricing

City officials say some of America’s biggest brands helped shape eating habits that are now coming back to haunt public health budgets

PepsiCo’s latest pep+ update centers on water and the message should make the whole snacks sector pay attention

From gingerbread nostalgia to chocolate trolleys and limited edition winter snacks, here’s what’s new this festive season

From colorless chips to collectible crisps and gooey skillet cookies, this season’s launches show how playful storytelling is reshaping what shoppers expect from a simple snack

PepsiCo’s Quaker brand is using science, local know-how and a bit of stubborn optimism to tackle one of the toughest global challenges

From bread lines to snack plants, manufacturers are turning to artificial intelligence to predict breakdowns and keep production running at full speed

Opinion
Turns out, more than half of us didn’t know chips are made from potatoes – and now food brands are scrambling to remind us what we’re actually eating

Ahead of FoodNavigator-USA’s free webinar ‘Fueling Fun: Connecting with Esports Enthusiasts and Everyday Gamers FTW’ (October 15), we look at how brands from Doritos to Heinz are stepping inside the $200bn gaming economy

A new lawsuit claims the citric acid in Frito-Lay’s Poppables isn’t natural but brewed from black mold and that PepsiCo misled consumers with its ‘no artificial flavors’ promise

Opinion
ESG’s under political fire in Washington, but the snack giants keep flexing. From Oreos to Doritos, their reports show that in today’s food industry, trust’s as valuable as profit.

Gluten-free cookies, sugar-free chocolate and GLP-1 diets are colliding. The world’s biggest food makers are scrambling to stay relevant

A wave of global flavors is storming the snack aisle. Yet research shows that for many consumers, the crunch on the outside matters just as much as the crunch inside the bag

PepsiCo and Unilever have decided it’s time to get serious about soil: their new STEP up for Agriculture program throws money and muscle behind regenerative farming

Heartland Craft Grains’ pact with Grown Climate Smart proves regenerative certification is becoming a supply-chain movement

Sustainable September
Shoppers swear they care about sustainability, but in the snack aisle it’s still price, taste and convenience that decide what goes in the basket. So are ‘climate-smart’ breads and biscuits set to stay niche or can they crack the mainstream?

A US judge tossed the first big UPF lawsuit, but with mounting science and regulators circling, bakery, snack and cereal brands shouldn’t breathe easy just yet

Beckham-backed honey snacks, Pringles-topped cookies and even a suitcase built for sliced bread — the latest wave of NPD pushes boundaries of fun, flavor and fandom

Opinion
Climate change isn’t just disrupting harvests - it’s coming for snack time

GROWTH ASIA SUMMIT 2025
Research shows that oats can lower age-related inflammation (iAge) in adults at risk for cardiovascular disease

PepsiCo leans into zero sugar, functional hydration and clean-label snacks as it refreshes marketing, innovation and execution to drive growth amid economic headwinds

The Lay’s and Sabra brand owner is leaning into functional innovation to revive slowing US snack sales

Here’s a cornucopia of ‘braticoqueta’-worthy snacks and sips that flirt, slay and satisfy

Major food companies like General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Conagra and Smucker are leading a sweeping shift away from synthetic colours. Here’s where the US food industry stands right now

One California shopper says it’s not what’s inside a PopCorners bag that’s the problem - but what isn’t
Strawberry jam Lay’s? Bratwurst Doritos? Behind the brands, PepsiCo chefs are taking experimental flavours to the streets

The snacking giant aims to build a more resilient food system from the ground up

Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, Mondelēz and Conagra are taking aggressive steps to defend their turf and redefine the rules of the snack aisle

Majors such as Danone, PepsiCo and Nestlé explain why they’re transitioning to regenerative farming

Clean label used to be the goal. Now it’s just the baseline and the smartest brands are going further, stripping out the fluff, tightening the science and telling a clearer story

Before we even take a bite, colour tells our brain what to crave. And it’s not just the frosting that’s doing the talking – it’s psychology, marketing and a bit of regulatory drama