Turkey’s young population and strategic importance has the Turkey unit of PepsiCo set to become “the favorite company in its sector in all of Europe,” according to the company’s Southeastern Europe region chief, Eugene Willemsen.
Turkey is of “strategic importance” for the U.S.-based global beverage, snack and food company, Willemsen said Friday, speaking at a press conference in Istanbul.
“Turkey, which has attained strong economic growth in the past decade, is a key intersection of common cuisine from the Mediterranean to the Middle East,” he said. “It has a young and dynamic population. Around half of this 75-million-strong population is below the age of 30, while the purchasing power of the rapidly expanding middle class grows.”
PepsiCo in Turkey has attained double-digit growth in the second quarter and the company’s beverage division has been increasing its market share for the past eight quarters, the region chief said. The food division, meanwhile, has become “Turkey’s fastest-growing snacks company” in the second quarter, he added.
Addressing issues of a healthy diet, Willemsen said the amount of sodium in Cheetos and Lay’s chips has been decreased by 25 percent, while the amount of saturated fats in Lay’s products has been cut by 80 percent. He also touted the company’s environmental improvements.
“In the whole of Southeastern Europe, we decreased the use of water by 30 percent in 2010, compared to 2006,” he said. “Worldwide, we have saved over 12 billion liters of water. Last year, in some of our facilities, we improved energy use by 16 percent.”
PepsiCo Food Turkey General Manager Ece Aksel and PepsiCo Beverages Turkey General Manager Hüseyin Tulpar also attended the press conference.
Source - hurriyetdailynews.com
// 01.08.2011
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