PepsiCo International, Pioneer Foods sign South Africa franchise agreement

21/07/05 PepsiCo International has announced the appointment of Pioneer Foods, a leading South African food and beverage company, as its franchisee in the Republic of South Africa.

Under the agreement Pioneer Foods' beverage subsidiary, Ceres Fruit Juices, will bottle and distribute a range of PepsiCo soft drinks, including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, 7-Up, and Mirinda. The drinks will be manufactured in Ceres' plant in Gauteng.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Franklin Sonn, Pioneer Foods director and former South African ambassador to the United States, and by Steve Reinemund, PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer.

According to Veraart, Pioneer Foods brings to the partnership both marketplace insight and distribution strength across the retail spectrum. He said that the franchise was awarded on the basis of Pioneer Foods' successful track record in the local food and beverage industry -- particularly in product development, packaging, distribution and marketing -- as well as on its strong corporate values and clearly demonstrated social responsibility.

PepsiCo International is the international (operating outside the U.S. and Canada) division of PepsiCo, one of the world's largest food and beverage companies. PepsiCo operates in nearly 200 countries and territories. Its brand portfolio includes many world renowned names such as Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay, Tropicana, Gatorade and Quaker.

Pioneer Foods is home to over 60 of South Africa's most popular household food and beverage brands -- including Ceres, Marmite, Weet-Bix, Heinz, Bokomo, Sasko, Safari and Liqui Fruit. It first entered the beverage market in 1999 by purchasing a 37.5% stake in Ceres Fruit Juices. Since then it has acquired the rest of the shares and now owns 100% of the company.

Further diversification of the Ceres beverage business was achieved in February 2004, with the acquisition of Gauteng-based Retail Brands Interafrica and Continental Beverages, which handle contract packaging of carbonated soft drinks and iced teas. In April 2005, Ceres took over Frucon Beverages, thereby gaining access to the dilutables category, as well as coffees and teas.

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