PepsiCo to drive ‘better-for-you’ NPD with Mexico baking innovation center

The baking center, based in the city of Apodaca in Mexico, will develop good-for-you and better-for-you products for a host of global markets, including Mexico, North America, Canada, Brazil, Turkey and Malaysia, among others.

Equipped with a culinary center, development laboratories and a pilot manufacturing plant, it was well placed to accelerate the pace of new product development, PepsiCo said.

Jeff Dahncke, senior communications director at PepsiCo, told BakeryandSnacks.com that the facility was PepsiCo’s global baking center of excellence.

“It will be leveraged by other PepsiCo markets around the world,”​ he said.

PepsiCo has several other ‘center of excellences’ around the globe, many of which are in the US, including a snacks center in Texas; an oats center in Illinois; and a beverage center in New York.

Better-for-you NPD, faster…​

Dahncke said the center would be dedicated to new product development across PepsiCo brands that offered baked products, such as Quaker, Gamesa, Sabritas and Lay’s.

“PepsiCo has a diverse portfolio of complementary food and beverage brands, including a growing global nutrition business. This new state-of-the-art baking facility will play an important role in creating new ‘better-for-you’ and ‘good-for-you’ products by partnering with PepsiCo teams around the world to develop great new baked foods and snacks,”​ he said.

One example was a new Quaker Oat & Yogurt sandwich biscuit, developed for the North American market.

With its 100+ experts in nutrition, science, technology and culinary art and pilot plant, the facility would be a “one-stop shop for new product development that will further accelerate innovation”,​ Dahncke said.

Committed to growth in Mexico​

The baking innovation center formed part of PepsiCo’s wider multiyear investment in Mexico. Earlier this year, the food titan announced a $5bn investment in the country over the next five years​.

Company CEO Indra Nooyi described Mexico – PepsiCo’s third largest market – as an attractive market with great growth potential. “Mexico is a cradle of innovation for PepsiCo globally and this new center will fuel a wide range of exciting new PepsiCo products,”​ she said.