Pepsi plans to lay off hundreds of workers as food titans try to future-proof their pantries

Falling flat… Pepsi’s plans to lay off hundreds of corporate staff to streamline its biz. The soda and snack giant has nearly 309K employees worldwide, and over a third are US-based. The latest cuts are aimed at its beverage biz, but will affect snacks too. FYI: Pepsi owns the four big O’s of snacking (Cheetos, Doritos, Tostitos, and Fritos). It isn’t the only one crunching down:

• Coca-Cola recently announced plans to restructure through a “voluntary separation program,” which includes buyout offers for some of its 6K North American workers.

Party in the pantry... Despite inflated prices, Americans have continued splurging on brand-name groceries from companies like Pepsi, Kraft, and Kellogg. Pepsi’s offset higher costs by hiking prices or shrinking product sizes (cough, shrinkflation). Last quarter Pepsi doubled its annual sales forecast as snacking demand stayed strong. But recession fears are sparking concerns that consumers' label loyalty could be tested:

• In October, Pepsi’s popular Frito-Lay brand saw sales volumes dip. Meanwhile, consumers across income levels are starting to trade down to cheaper private labels.
• Now, Pepsi execs said they want to offset pressure on margins by preparing for “worsening macroeconomic conditions.”