PepsiCo sees growth in snacks, dairy

Pepsi formed a joint venture with Saudi Arabia's Almarai Co , the Gulf's largest dairy company by market value.

 The
venture, will be called International Dairy and Juice Ltd and will
be 52 percent held by PepsiCo, invests in dairy and juice processors
in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

"Dairy is an important category,"
said PepsiCo Chief Financial Officer Richard Goodman in an interview.
"We're excited. We had an opportunity to do something that was
unusual."
Volume in the North American beverage business fell
6 percent in the fourth quarter, as a recession has made consumers
more frugal. Volume in the foods business remained flat. Pepsi
reported a sharply lower fourth-quarter profit.

Accoriding to Goodman the food business
will continue to outperform the drinks business, since historically
the food business has never suffered that badly.