PepsiCo plans to increase 'healthy' product market share
initiative, announcing that this year it expects 50 percent of its
new product revenues to be achieved through the sale of 'healthy'
goods.
The global snacks giant has made a five-year alliance with America's YMCA in an effort to "make healthy living a reality for millions of Americans."
The new agreement supports YMCA Activate America, which aims to reduce the nation's incidence of obesity and chronic disease through encouraging proper nutrition and exercise.
"The YMCA and PepsiCo have a common goal in helping people find easy solutions for leading healthier lifestyles," said Brock Leach, PepsiCo Senior Vice President, New Growth Platforms and Chief Innovation Officer.
"With nearly 2,600 locations and more than 20 million members, the YMCA has the unique ability to empower people to be more physically active and to make smarter nutritional choices. We believe that the YMCA has tremendous potential to impact lifestyles since they are America's leading provider of health and wellness programming," he added.
YMCA activate America aims to create environments where Americans feel supported in their efforts to eat well and be physically active. The movement uses organizational transformation, community leadership and strategic partnerships to help people stick to healthy lifestyles, without falling back into 'bad habits.'
Indeed, this is just the next step in PepsiCo's attempts to market itself as a 'healthy' company. In 2004 it launched its Smart Spot symbol- an easily recognizable mark that flags its products as 'healthy.'
Last year, sales of products bearing the symbol grew by 13 percent, and the company now says that this year it expects to achieve 50 percent of its new product revenues from Smart Spot products.
In order to carry the symbol, products must meet one of three criteria. They must contain at least 10 percent of the Daily Value of a targeted nutrient, such as protein, fiber, calcium, iron, vitamin A or vitamin C, and meet limits for fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium and added sugar; or they must be formulated to have specific health or wellness benefits; or be reduced in calories or nutrients such as fat, sodium or sugar.
Existing Smart Spot products include brands such as Baked Lays, Life Cereal, Gatorade Thirst Quencher, Quaker Oatmeal, Diet Pepsi Cola and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars.
