Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, takes part in a panel during the Women In The World Summit in the Manhattan borough of New York April 8, 2016.Reuters file 
A Pepsi truck is shown in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., September 26, 2016.Reuters file
PepsiCo is witnessing a steady decline in its soft drinks revenues while the contribution from snacks and nutrition products is almost half of its sales, says Indra Nooyi, CEO of the New York-company, in a long post on a networking site, after the company released its sustainability report 2015.
In her LinkedIn post, she speaks about various aspects such as returns to shareholders, reducing salt and sugar in its products, water conservation and initiatives to improve livelihoods of communities globally.
"Some people are surprised to learn that our beloved Pepsi-Cola trademark accounted for just 12% of our 2015 revenue, while our nutrition brands, low calorie beverages and healthier snacks accounted for roughly 45% during the same period," Nooyi wrote.
PepsiCo's organic revenues rose 5.1 percent in 2015, though net revenues declined 5.4 percent to $63.05 billion ($66.68 billion in 2014), according to its financial statements released earlier this year. The current year's growth rate was forecast at approximately 4 percent.
Nooyi said that the company is consciously bringing down the quantum of salt and sugar in its product range to address health concerns over consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.
"We're cutting added sugar, salt and saturated fat levels in many of our products, while expanding our lineup of nutritious foods and beverages," Nooyi wrote.
In its sustainability report 2015, the company says by 2025, at least two-thirds of the company's beverages will contain 100 calories or less per 12-ounce serving.
"Using new recipes in markets around the world, we removed up to 40 calories from added sugars per 12-ounce serving of our 7UP carbonated soft drink, owned by PepsiCo outside of the U.S.— including reducing up to 30 percent of calories from added sugars in Mexico, Russia and China.
"Committed to scaling innovations of this kind, we are rolling out a new 7UP recipe in India this year, with more markets to follow. Similarly, added sugars were reduced by 30 percent in the new green citrus Lipton tea recipe in Mexico as compared with the original flavor. Additionally, our new Mirinda Orange recipe in China has 30 percent less sugar than the original," according to the report.
The company also intends to bring in 15 percent improvement in "water-use efficiency among direct agricultural suppliers in high water-risk sourcing areas."
Rewards to shareholders
The current year is likely to see an outgo of $7 billion this year from PepsiCo towards dividend and share buyback.
"Total dividends to shareholders are expected to be approximately $4 billion in 2016. In addition, the Company anticipates share repurchases of approximately $3 billion, resulting in expected total cash returned to shareholders of approximately $7 billion in 2016," it had said after declaring its 2015 results.
