Double-digit price hike compensates PepsiCo’s volume drop

American food giant PepsiCo has beaten expectations in 2023’s first quarter, thanks to a strong performance in the Americas and sharp price hikes. The company says further price increases are not on the cards now.

Volumes fell slightly

PepsiCo saw its first-quarter sales grow by 10.2 % to 17.85 billion dollars (16.2 billion euros), which is better than expected. That growth was mainly due to price increases averaging 16 %, which offset increases in packaging, transport and wages costs. Volumes fell by 2 %. Unlike rival Coca-Cola, the multinational says it will not raise prices further this year.

The manufacturer of brands such as Doritos, Lays, Pepsi and Quaker performed strongly in the North and South American markets. In Europe, where the crisis hit harder, sales rose by ‘just’ 5 %. Although net profit fell sharply from 4.26 to 1.93 billion dollars (1.75 billion euros), this is explained by exceptional earnings last year following the sale of the Tropicana and Naked beverage brands to investment fund PAI Partners for 3.3 billion dollars (3 billion euros). PepsiCo expects sales to rise 8 % and earnings per share to grow 9 % this year.