The largest and most recent acquisition was Pioneer Foods in 2020 for US$1.7 billion[2] and prior to it was buying the Quaker Oats Company in 2001, which added the Gatorade brand to the Pepsi portfolio and Tropicana Products in 1998.

Although Coca-Cola outsells Pepsi Cola in the United States, PepsiCo within the North American market is the largest food and beverage company by net revenue.

In 1931, Roy Megargel, a Wall Street broker, purchased the Pepsi trademark, business, and goodwill from Craven Holding in association with Charles Guth.

[24] In August 2009, PepsiCo made a US$7 billion offer to acquire the two largest bottlers of its products in North America: Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas.

[43] On August 3, 2021, PepsiCo announced that they have agreed to sell a majority stake in Tropicana, Naked and other North American juice brands to French private equity firm PAI Partners for US$3.3 billion, so that the company can concentrate on its healthy snack food business.

[50] This division contributed 35 percent of PepsiCo's net revenue as of 2015,[49] and involves the manufacture (and in some cases licensing), marketing and sales of both carbonated and non-carbonated beverages in North America.

Products made by this division are sold to independent distributors and retailers, and are transported from Frito-Lay's manufacturing plants to distribution centers, principally in vehicles owned and operated by the company.

[77] In September 2023, the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention listed PepsiCo as a “war sponsor” for continuing to operate in Russia and, in particular, paying taxes.

[78] The AMESA sector consists of the Africa, Middle East and South Asia regions, and features many leading global and local snack brands including Lay's, Cheetos, and Doritos, along with local favorites such as Chipsy (Egypt), Simba (South Africa) and Kurkure (India and Pakistan), as well as various beverage brands including 7UP, Pepsi, Aquafina, Mtn Dew, Mirinda, and Sting.

The AMESA sector covers a wide span of developing and emerging markets, including the key countries of Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and South Africa.

[49] In 1992, the Pepsi Number Fever marketing campaign in the Philippines accidentally distributed 800,000 winning bottle caps for a 1 million peso grand prize, leading to riots and the deaths of five people.

Former top executives at PepsiCo include Steven Reinemund, Roger Enrico, D. Wayne Calloway, John Sculley, Michael H. Jordan, Donald M. Kendall, Christopher A. Sinclair, Irene Rosenfeld, David C. Novak, Brenda C. Barnes, and Alfred Steele.

[87] PepsiCo received a 100 percent rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the LGBT-advocate group Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report.

Westchester Magazine stated "The buildings' square blocks rise from the ground into low, inverted ziggurats, with each of the three floors having strips of dark windows; patterned pre-cast concrete panels add texture to the exterior surfaces.

[49] On a worldwide basis, the company's current products lines include several hundred brands that in 2009 were estimated to have generated approximately US$108 billion in cumulative annual retail sales.

[115] In 1989, amidst declining vodka sales, PepsiCo bartered for 2 new Soviet oil tankers, 17 decommissioned submarines (for $150,000 each), a frigate, a cruiser and a destroyer, which they could in turn sell for non-Soviet currency.

[125] Similarly public health advocates have criticized Pepsi's high-calorie, poor nutrition product lines along with other popular snack and drink manufacturers.

[131][132][133] PepsiCo believes "that genetically-modified products can play a role in generating positive economic, social and environmental contributions to societies around the world; particularly in times of food shortages.

In this setting, PepsiCo was perceived by India-based environmental organizations as a company that diverted water to manufacture a discretionary product, making it a target for critics at the time.

[141] In the United Kingdom, also in response to regional drought conditions, PepsiCo snacks brand Walkers' reduced water usage at its largest potato chip facility by 45 percent between the years 2001 and 2008.

[145] The company maintained its positioning of bottled water as "healthy and convenient", while also beginning to partially offset environmental impacts of such products through alternate means, including packaging weight reduction.

[146] PepsiCo denied the allegations, and India's health ministry has also dismissed the allegations—both questioning the accuracy of the data compiled by the CSE, as it was tested by its own internal laboratories without being verified by outside peer review.

[164] Beginning largely in 2006, PepsiCo began development of more efficient means of producing and distributing its products using less energy,[165] while also placing a focus on emissions reduction.

[166] Also in 2009, PepsiCo began the test deployment of so-called "green vending machines", which reduce energy usage by 15 percent in comparison to average models in use.

[167] According to its 2009 annual report, PepsiCo states that it is "committed to delivering sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet",[55][137] which it has defined in its mission statement since 2006 as "Performance with Purpose".

[168] According to news and magazine coverage on the subject in 2010, the objective of this initiative is to increase the number and variety of healthier food and beverage products made available to its customers,[169] employ a reduction in the company's environmental impact,[170] and to facilitate diversity and healthy lifestyles within its employee base.

[172] In response to shifting consumer preferences and in part due to increasing governmental regulation, PepsiCo in 2010 indicated its intention to grow this segment of its business, forecasting that sales of fruit, vegetable, whole grain, and fiber-based products will amount to US$30 billion by 2020.

The company aligns with personal responsibility advocates, who assert that food and beverages with higher proportions of sugar or salt content are fit for consumption in moderation by individuals who also exercise on a regular basis.

[176] As public perception placed additional scrutiny on the marketing and distribution of carbonated soft drinks to children, PepsiCo announced in 2010 that by 2012, it will remove beverages with higher sugar content from primary and secondary schools worldwide.

[178] In 2008, in accordance with guidelines adopted by the International Council of Beverages Associations, PepsiCo eliminated the advertising and marketing of products that do not meet its nutrition standards, to children under the age of 12.