People drink “soft” or cold drinks for two main reasons, they’re tasty and refreshing. And, despite the continuing debate on the disadvantages of drinking sodas, colas, pops and fizzy drinks, call it whatever you want, Pepsi Cola, a leader in the beverage industry worldwide, has committed itself to innovation and be part of the solution to the growing concerns on certain health issues.
Increasing populations and better standards of living in emerging economies will dictate demand for beverages in the coming years. This rising health awareness among consumers across the globe is driving the industry to gear toward providing better options, like low-calorie products, for fast-becoming health-conscious drinkers.
This is what Jika Dalupan, vice president for corporate affairs and communications of Pepsi Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI), espouses together with her team—that the key to consumer-health education is through informed choice.
“When I first came in here more than two years ago, I was tasked to set up the corporate-affairs function to strengthen the corporate reputation of Pepsi, and to work closely with the industry in communicating our purpose,” she emphasizes.
Dalupan believes it was also an opportune time for her to have joined the company, after a brief sabbatical and retirement from another multinational company. Around that time, Lotte Group of Korea, a global conglomerate with diversified businesses, invested in the bottling operations of Pepsi in the Philippines to boost local operations.
It was common knowledge to most Filipinos about the series of unfortunate events that the beverage company had to overcome, but that is now a thing of the past. In recent years, the growth within the organization was really fast that it revived the entire business and made the industry more exciting again.
“The president at the time I joined said, ‘The company needs a robust corporate-reputation strategy in light of the developments in the beverage industry. We needed to focus on branding and CSR [corporate social responsibility] at the same time,’” Dalupan recalls.
This was reminiscent of her stint with a leading pharmaceutical company. She needed to establish media contacts, liaise with partners, appeal to the community and communicate internally, at the same time, to align every department with the goals of the new management.
It was second nature for her, but she felt like she was starting from scratch again, as this new role is situated in a totally different environment.
The difference lay in the gender diversity—or the lack of it. The bottling company of Pepsi in the country is evidently a man’s world.
“About 16 percent of the total work force is female, most of whom are assigned in general and administrative services—a handful with the manufacturing side, some are with the sales department,” Dalupan carefully dissects.
She is the only woman in their regular mancom—being the only female executive among 12 leaders from various departments.
But when she talks, she makes sure everybody listens, as her peers are all aware that she is on top of her game and that what she knows is like paragons of truth that need to be religiously observed. On the other hand, she is keen to take advices and inputs from her comanagers, especially on areas that she may not be familiar with.
Innovation and creativity are areas of expertise where she is expected to contribute a lot. Without innovations, business or the products themselves will be boring and sapid. It’s what excites the market.
Competitors definitely have new gimmicks, taste and appearances. Whatever the focus is, be it a new color, flavor or formula, the key is to create effective brand awareness in the consciousness of the consumer. Product innovation is necessary to contest buyers’ need for a variety of tastes. In short, manufacturers themselves somehow try to compete with their own products by differentiating a brand from another by taste.
“Of course, at the end of the day, they [the market] are the ones who dictate what kind of products we bring into the market. For example, our coconut-water product, Tropicana Coco Quench, was launched two years ago because the company saw that there is a growing demand for healthier drinks,” Dalupan explains.
When asked about the criticism that the industry is getting about sugary drinks, this is what she has to say, “There is a demand for such products because they satisfy a need of our consumers. Having said that, we advocate consumer education through informed choice. That is why we placed nutrition facts on our packaging labels.”
For several years now, the beverage industry had shown an enormous growth, and a lot of investors are putting in their money to grab a slice of the pie; however, the issues on health seem to concern our government. And the solution it is thinking is to tax sugar—this would mean increase in prices of the beverages we love to drink.
Dalupan explains that the proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages aims to control the consumers from drinking too much sugary drinks to lower obesity rates. She, however, has a different view about this move.
“There are no studies directly linking beverage consumption to obesity rates. Obesity is multi-factorial…a host of other foods and the lack of exercise can contribute to it. This is also an antipoor measure which will surely affect our consumers, most of whom belong to the lower C, D, E market.”
Dalupan quotes Dr. Tony Leachon of the Philippine College of Physicians, speaking about ‘sin’ tax, “You cannot compare beverage to tobacco, which is an absolute sin; because when you smoke tobacco, you know that it does something bad to your body. Sugar-sweetened beverages, on the other hand, is merely a relative sin because it doesn’t have a negative effect on the body, more so if consumed in moderation and with proper exercise.”
And, of course, a viable CSR is imperative for the market to appreciate not just the products but also the people behind the product. Pepsi is very much aware of the changing societal concerns, attitudes and lifestyles as important trends. In Western countries, people are becoming more concerned about obesity, diabetes, hypertension and other health issues, representing a bigger challenge for the industry players.
Here in the country, Filipinos are also having the awareness on all these health issues, but so far, the biggest challenge is still poverty and malnutrition.
Among the things Pepsi does for the community is to support local communities where they operate. “We have a school nutrition program, dubbed ‘Pepsigla,’ which we rolled out in several schools across the country.”
Every day for six months, Pepsigla feeds 30 of the most malnourished children with nutritious meals based on a menu prepared by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, which include rice, egg and malunggay, among others. their progress is monitored by non-governmental organization partner Kabisig ng Kalahi, and reported to the National Competitiveness Council.
Pepsi is also a signatory to the Global Industry Initiative of Responsible Advertising to Children and works with the Department of Education in bringing in the goodness of its noncarbonated products, like Lipton, Gatorade and Tropicana juices, to various educational institutions.
Dalupan says that Pepsi and PCPPI are working together to produce products that answer the call for exciting drinks and snacks.
“Yes, PCPPI will soon manufacture snacks in the country…so watch this space!” Dalupan exclaims.