America’s two soft-drink giants both had a good recent quarter but warn that challenging times lie ahead.
The Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo both showed gains in sales and organic revenue for the quarter ending Dec. 31 compared with last year. Coca-Cola posted a year-over-year sales gain of 10%, to $9.46 billion, which was the first time that sales outpaced pre-pandemic levels. Organic revenue, which disregards factors like acquisitions and currency fluctuations, was up 9%
For PepsiCo, sales were up 12% to $25.25 billion, a 12% increase over last year. Organic revenue was also up 12%.
Executives of both companies said they are experiencing severe inflationary pressure, for ingredients, packaging, transportation and other costs. Both companies have recently raised the prices of their own products: Coca-Cola by 10%, PepsiCo by 7%.
“We have consumers following us in spite of higher prices,” PepsiCo Ramon Laguarta said in comments quoted in the Wall Street Journal.
