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Business|PepsiCo Reaches for Protein and Fiber to Boost Sales
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/business/pepsico-frito-lay-protein-fiber.html
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The food giant said its Frito-Lay snack division planned to make a line of Cheetos and Doritos with no artificial colors or flavors, as demand falters.
July 17, 2025, 12:48 p.m. ET
High-protein Cheetos? Doritos with added fiber?
The snack and beverage giant PepsiCo said it planned to offer healthier, or cleaner, versions of some of the company’s popular chip and drink brands and add protein or fiber to them, which consumers are increasingly seeking, executives told Wall Street analysts and investors on an earnings call on Thursday morning.
“Protein is clearly a sub-segment in the food and beverage category that is growing fast,” Ramon Laguarta, the chief executive of PepsiCo, said. “Consumers are adopting protein solutions in their diet at a pace that was not the case a few months or years back. We’re trying to offer the consumer solutions. Not small solutions, but big solutions with some of our big brands.”
The company didn’t offer specifics on which snacks or beverages might be made with additional protein or fiber, but hinted they would most likely first appear in some beverages and Quaker snacks. It said it was in the midst of relaunching two of its big brands, Lay’s and Tostitos, with no artificial colors or flavors by the end of this year.
PepsiCo also plans to introduce a line of Cheetos and Doritos with no artificial colors or flavors in the future, the company said. The company highlighted the success it has seen globally in its sugar-free colas and other beverages.
The heightened focus on healthier or more functional snacks and beverages comes as consumers are increasingly seeking out those types of products and as the Trump Administration is applying pressure on companies to move away from artificial colors and toward more natural ingredients.
Late Wednesday, President Trump posted on social media that Coca-Cola had agreed to switch to real cane sugar in its drinks sold in the United States. Coke, which currently sweetens its beverages in the United States largely with high-fructose corn syrup, did not say whether it had agreed to the change or not.
