In 1965, Donald Kendall, the CEO of Pepsi-Cola, and Herman Lay, the CEO of Frito-Lay, recognized what they called “a marriage made in heaven,” a single company delivering perfectly-salty snacks served alongside the best cola on earth. Their vision led to what quickly became one of the world's leading food and beverage companies: PepsiCo.

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $70 billion in net revenue in 2020, driven by a complementary food and beverage portfolio that includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including 23 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. "Winning with Purpose" reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of our business strategy and brands.

Our company is made up of seven divisions: PepsiCo Beverages North America; Frito-Lay North America; Quaker Foods North America; Latin America; Europe; Africa, Middle East and South Asia; and Asia Pacific, Australia/New Zealand and China. Each of these divisions has its own unique history and way of doing business.

The roots of PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA) go back to 1898, when Caleb Bradham, an entrepreneur from New Bern, North Carolina created Pepsi-Cola and began offering it to his pharmacy customers.

For over 60 years, PepsiCo has been a part of Saudi Arabia’s history. We’ve had the privilege of being in and investing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia since 1957 and we continue to be inspired by the passion and ambition of its people. We are proud that our products are made by Saudi nationals, in Saudi, for Saudi. Today, PepsiCo is the largest F&B conglomerate in the Kingdom.

Our iconic beverages, including Pepsi-Cola, Mirinda, 7-UP, Mountain Dew, and Aquafina, as well as delicious products from our snacks portfolio, such as Lay’s, Cheetos, Doritos and Quaker Oats, continue to Create More Smiles with Every Sip and Every Bite. This reflects our mission to run our business in a way that simultaneously satisfies and advances the interests of our consumers, customers, associates, and communities, planet, and shareholders.

PepsiCo honors its legacy in the Kingdom by working with the government to realize the strategic goals of Vision 2030. PepsiCo is creating employment opportunities for Saudi nationals, forging ahead with upskilling youth and women, and elevating work culture by applying global best practices.

Throughout our history in Saudi Arabia, we have made significant investments in people, manufacturing plants, the Saudi supply chain, and Saudi support services. Today, we employ close to 9,000 people across our 86 site operations, our Saudization rates reach over 40% in some business units, and 1 in every 5 team members is female. We work with local partners and bottlers to produce products in Saudi made by Saudis to contribute to the Kingdom’s economy. 

To further demonstrate our commitment to the nation, we launched our “Proudly Saudi” campaign in 2021 aimed at creating new opportunities for Saudis and supporting the Saudi community. As part of the campaign, we signed an MOU with the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources to help in the development of the industrial sector by training thousands of Saudi youth, SMEs and females. 

As a major food exporting hub for PepsiCo in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is a strategically critical market. The scope of our operations across the nation is vast; with five beverage plants alongside our longstanding local bottling partners including Middle East & North Africa Beverages Manufacturing Co (MENABEV), Al Jomaih Bottling Plant, and Al-Qahtani family (AQS). We are proud to say that the largest beverage plant in the world is in Jeddah and our carbonated soft drinks network alone supports 20,388 jobs and approximately SAR 5 billion contribution to the Kingdom’s annual GDP.

We are also proud of our foods business which, in 2021, celebrated 25 years since the establishment of our Saudi Snack Foods Company. Our two snacks’ plants support local production and export Saudi-made products to 7 other markets in the Middle East.

Saudi Snack Foods Company Ltd

Saudi Snack Foods Ltd Co was founded in October 1995 by Saad Abdul Latif along with 3 local shareholders: Sheikh Khaled Bugshan Ahmed H. Algosaibi and brothers' company Sheikh Abdul-Khaleq Saeed Qasim And PepsiCo entered a joint venture with some of its local partners.

The company was initially established by buying out a local company, called Atayib, which had one manufacturing plant and, in just eight years, the company expanded nearly fivefold. It grew from 140 employees to over 1,600 employees, becoming market leaders in the salty snack foods business.

In 2001, SSFL added to its expansive portfolio of snacks which includes Lays, Cheetos, Quavers and Doritos.

In 2014, PepsiCo bought out local company “Tasali” in Western Region.

SSFL currently has two manufacturing facilities, in Riyadh and Dammam, with regional sales offices across Saudi Arabia and exporting its products to the Gulf region, as well as other countries, such as Jordan and Iraq.