Appetite for disruption

21 February 2014 By Kevin Allison

The industry’s annual U.S. confab is chock-a-block with whiz-bang products like Bluetooth-enabled toothbrushes and funnel-cake corn dogs. But it’s just empty calories if it doesn’t lead to robust top lines. Cost-cutting alone can’t justify today’s expensive share-price multiples.

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The 43rd annual Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference took place in Boca Raton, Florida, from Feb. 17 to Feb. 21.

PepsiCo on Feb. 20 reiterated that it had no plans to break itself up, despite activist investor Nelson Peltz’s renewed campaign to push management to split the soda maker into separate beverages and snacks companies. Pepsi had earlier ruled out a breakup, saying a strategic review had concluded that keeping its North American beverages arm inside the company was the best way to create value for shareholders.

“We’ve looked at this from every single angle and we’re absolutely convinced this is the right decision for the company,” Brian Cornell, chief executive of PepsiCo Americas, said at the conference.

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