PepsiCo was the world's largest snack and beverage company with 2017 net revenues of approximately $63.5 billion. The company's portfolio of businesses in 2018 included Frito-Lay salty snacks, Quaker Chewy granola bars, Pepsi soft drink products, Tropicana orange juice, Lipton Brisk tea, Gatorade, Propel, SoBe, Quaker Oatmeal, Cap'n Crunch, Aquafina, Rice-A-Roni, Aunt Jemima pancake mix, and many other regularly consumed products. The company viewed the lineup as highly complementary since most of its products could be consumed together.

In 2018, PepsiCo's business lineup included 22 $1 billion global brands. The company's top managers were focused on sustaining the impressive performance that had been achieved since its restructuring through strategies keyed to product innovation, close relationships with distribution allies, international expansion, and strategic acquisitions. Newly introduced products such as Mountain Dew Ice, Doritos Blaze tortilla chips, Sweet Potato Sun Chips, LIFEWTR functional waters, Lemon Lemon sparkling lemonade, and the 1893 premium line of flavored colas accounted for 15%-20% of all new growth in recent years. New product innovations that addressed consumer health and wellness concerns were important contributors to the company's growth, with PepsiCo's better-for-you and good-for-you products becoming focal points in the company's new product development initiatives.

Even though the company had recorded a number of impressive achievements over the past decade, its growth had slowed since 2011. In fact, the spikes in the company's revenue growth since 2000 had resulted from major acquisitions such as the $13.6 billion acquisition of Quaker Oats in 2001, the 2010 acquisition of the previously independent Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiCo Americas for $8.26 billion, and the acquisition of Russia's leading food-and- beverage company, Wimm-Bill-Dann (WBD) Foods, for $3.8 billion in 2011. Since 2011, the company had favored targeted "tuck-in" acquisitions of leading brands in popular new healthy food categories. Nevertheless, PepsiCo's revenues continued to decline as annual consumption of carbonated soft drinks fell each year and its international business units struggled

PepsiCo's Board of Directors has employed you as a consultant to assess PepsiCo's diversified business portfolio in 2018 and to make recommendations as to what actions PepsiCo's top management team should now take to increase shareholder value to new highs. Y Supplement your executive summary with additional charts and tables as needed to support your analysis and recommendations.

1. What are the key issues faced by Pepsico?
2. What are your recommendations to Pepsico to overcome these challenges?