OLDEST FOOD COMPANY

Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

PEPSICO

PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo has interests in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company and Frito-Lay, Inc. PepsiCo has since expanded from its namesake product Pepsi to a broader range of food and beverage brands, the largest of which included an acquisition of Tropicana Products in 1998 and the Quaker Oats Company in 2001, which added the Gatorade brand to its portfolio.

As of January 26, 2012, 22 of PepsiCo's brands generated retail sales of more than $1 billion,[3] and the company's products were distributed across more than 200 countries, resulting in annual net revenues of $43.3 billion. Based on net revenue, PepsiCo is the second largest food and beverage business in the world, behind Nestlé. Within North America, PepsiCo is the largest food and beverage business by net revenue. Ramon Laguarta has been the chief executive of PepsiCo since 2018. The company's beverage distribution and bottling is conducted by PepsiCo as well as by licensed bottlers in certain

Origins

The soft drink Pepsi was developed by Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist and businessman from Duplin County, North Carolina. He coined the name "Pepsi-Cola" in 1898 while marketing the drink from his pharmacy in New Bern, North Carolina. As his drink gained popularity, Bradham founded the Pepsi-Cola Company in 1902 and registered a patent for his recipe in 1903.

 The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1919. Bradham's company experienced years of success leading up to World War I. However, sugar rationing during the war and a volatile sugar market in the war's aftermath damaged the company's financial health to such a degree that in 1923, Bradham declared bankruptcy and returned to running pharmacies in North Carolina.

On June 8, 1923 the company trademark and secret recipe were purchased by Craven Holding Corporation. In 1931, Roy Megargel, a Wall Street broker, purchased the Pepsi trademark, business, and goodwill from Craven Holding in association with Charles Guth. Guth was also the president of Loft, Incorporated, a leading candy manufacturer based in Long Island City, New York. 

Loft ran a network with 115 stores across the Mid Atlantic at the time of Guth's acquisition. Guth used Loft's labs and chemists to reformulate the Pepsi syrup recipe, and he used his position as president of the company to replace Coca-Cola with Pepsi Cola at Loft's shops and restaurants. Guth also used Loft resources to promote Pepsi, and moved the soda company to a location close by Loft's own facilities in New York City.

In 1935, the shareholders of Loft sued Guth for his 91% stake of Pepsi-Cola Company in the landmark case Guth v. Loft Inc. Loft won the suit and on May 29, 1941 formally absorbed Pepsi into Loft, which was then re-branded as Pepsi-Cola Company that same year. Loft restaurants and candy stores were spun off at this time.

In the early 1960s, Pepsi-Cola's product lines expanded with the creation of Diet Pepsi and purchase of Mountain Dew. In 1965, the Pepsi-Cola Company merged with Frito-Lay, Inc. to become PepsiCo, Inc. At the time of its foundation, PepsiCo was incorporated in the state of Delaware and headquartered in Manhattan, New York. The company's headquarters were relocated to the present location of Purchase, New York in 1970, and in 1986 PepsiCo was reincorporated in the state of North Carolina. After 39 years trading on the New York Stock Exchange, PepsiCo moved its shares to Nasdaq on December 20, 2017.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking