Latest news with #Quaker
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
PepsiCo struggles to reverse concerning customer behavior
PepsiCo (PEP) , which owns popular food and drink brands such as Pepsi, Lay's, Gatorade, Quaker, Tostitos, and more, continues to suffer from a dramatic change in customer behavior, and it is making bold moves to address the problem. In PepsiCo's second-quarter earnings report for 2025, it revealed that U.S. revenue from its food brands declined by 2% year-over-year. Its convenient foods volume in the U.S. also dipped by 1%, while its beverages volume decreased by 2%. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Despite low sales, the company's net revenue increased by 1% year-over-year during the quarter. Related: Kellogg sounds alarm on unexpected shift in customer behavior In the earnings report, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said the company is "effectively navigating through a challenging environment." Image source: Bloomberg/Getty Images The decrease in sales comes during a time when consumers are watching their spending as they battle inflation and higher costs of living. During an earnings call on July 11, Laguarta acknowledged that consumers have become more value-conscious and said that going forward, PepsiCo will address affordability with "more precision." Many Americans are also shifting more toward healthier food and beverage options as concerns over potential health risks associated with ingredients found in processed foods continue to erupt on social media, which is also impacting sales. Amid this challenge, PepsiCo is making a huge effort to attract health-conscious consumers, which it hopes will help fix its struggling sales. Part of this effort includes gradually removing artificial colors and artificial flavors from its food and beverages. "We're following the consumer, and if the consumer is telling us that they prefer products that have sugar, and they prefer products that have natural ingredients, we will give the consumer products that have sugar and have natural ingredients," said Laguarta during the call. Related: PepsiCo makes swift move to avoid major boycott from consumers As part of this initiative, PepsiCo plans to soon "introduce extensions of Cheetos and Doritos" that will contain no artificial colors or flavors. The company is also relaunching its Lay's and Tostitos brands to "elevate" their healthy ingredients and remove artificial ingredients from their products, starting during the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year. In addition, PepsiCo is also decreasing its reliance on seed oils in its food products. These oils have recently faced scrutiny from consumers on social media for being overly processed and contributing to inflammation in the human body. "We will expand the use of avocado or olive oil across certain brand platforms and enhance certain products with protein, fiber, and whole grains later this year and into next year within our Frito-Lay and Quaker portfolios," said Laguarta and PepsiCo Chief Financial Officer Jamie Caulfield in prepared remarks. The company will also focus on providing smaller portions of its food products to consumers by increasing multipack, variety pack, and single-serve options. It also plans to join the growing protein trend, in which consumers are focused on implementing more protein into their diets to improve health and wellness. "I think protein is clearly a sub-segmenting in our food and beverages categories that is growing fast, consumers are adopting protein solutions in the diets at a pace that was not the case a few months back, a few years back," said Laguarta. "So as we always do, we follow the consumer." The increased focus on healthier food options comes after a survey by the International Food Information Council last year found that 79% of Americans consider whether a food product is processed when deciding to purchase it. Also, 63% of Americans avoid processed foods, while over half follow a vegan, vegetarian, or plant-based diet to be healthier. More Food + Dining: Papa Johns makes major menu change to win back customersSteak 'n Shake's beef tallow fries aren't as healthy as they appearChick-fil-A angers customers with major change in stores Amid this trend, PepsiCo has acquired brands Siete Foods and Poppi, which both recently gained traction among consumers for their healthy ingredients. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also been pressuring food companies to remove processed ingredients from their products. Recently, he announced his goal to phase out synthetic dyes in food and beverages, which has prompted some food companies to alter their ingredients. "For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent," said Kennedy in an April press release. "These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children's health and development. That era is coming to an end." Related: Coca-Cola may soon make a drastic change to its sodas The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Rhyl Journal
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
North Wales cabaret performer FishWidow's album unleashed
Electronic musician Josh Gemmell performs as FishWidow, appearing regularly at events in North Wales, included recently Colwyn Bay Pride and North Wales Pride in Bethesda. Originally from Warrington, Josh has released records under the name 'Jacques 'n' Their Box' in recent years. Describing the music, Josh said: "I love to create haunting soundscapes with my music that continue to blur the line between noisy and ambient styles. I also love to cryptically sing and speak poetry over these eerie worlds. Currently I'm experimenting with disjointed rhythms and Trip Hop styles. "I won't pretend that my music is for everyone, but it certainly scratches a niche with people I've met! I'm inspired by classic 80s industrial bands like the infamous Throbbing Gristle and Nurse With Wound but also love a bit of 90s Trip Hop like Massive Attack and Tricky. The new album The Unauthodox Texts is a collaboration with musician and artist Alpha-27. Josh says fans of the wilder, more experimental side of 90s Trip Hop will love the release. Josh added: "I love The Unauthodox Texts because it's a brilliant combination of contradictions! It is simultaneously the heaviest and most approachable record I've ever contributed to with its gnarly yet familiar rhythms. Lyrically, it starts off as a record challenging religion and yet ends with with two eccentric covers of traditional church hymns. We live in a confusing and chaotic world and I think this record highlights this! "As a queer performer and a practicing Quaker this album almost feels like a queer reclaiming of personal faith and I'm really happy to share it with people. "I've been a fan of my collaborator, Alpha-27 for a while now, having also followed their youtube channel and their journalistic output before engaging in their musical catalogue. Being on the other side of the continent we collaborated remotely via file sharing." "Honestly before starting this project, I was going through a bit of a creative rut so was great to challenge myself and get mixing again! I am really proud of the end result as we both did really well in fleshing out each other's ideas."
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
PepsiCo Beats Estimates, Citing Strong International Business
PepsiCo Inc. maintained its annual outlook and reported sales growth that beat Wall Street estimates, citing strong international growth. The company, which owns the Gatorade, Lipton and Quaker brands, reported organic sales growth of 2.1% in the second quarter ended June 14, outpacing the average analyst estimate. Earnings per share were $2.12, also higher than market expectations.
Time Out
6 days ago
- Time Out
These are the top island destinations in the U.S., according to Expedia
There's a special allure about traveling to an island—maybe it's knowing the sea surrounds you, maybe it's the culture that tends to arise in these areas, hell, maybe it's simply the hyper-fresh seafood and coconuts. Whatever the reason, travelers are looking for islands this year: global interest in visiting isles has risen 30-percent since last year, according to Expedia. In fact, the travel site noticed the trend was so popular that it created its first-ever "Island Hot List" —and three such islands are located right here in the U.S. One of those is Nantucket, an island south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. This upscale enclave has beautiful architecture and cobblestone streets, bright beaches, a good art and dining scene, and fascinating history as a one-time whaling capital and as a spot of Quaker abolitionism. You can also craft a limerick as you stroll around; the island's got an excellent walkability score, stretching a mere 14 miles long and is 3.5 miles wide. Nantucket is the second-most popular island search among Americans, per Expedia, just after Madeira off the coast of Portugal, famous for its fortified wine. The third island U.S. travelers seem most interested in is St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. (It became a U.S. territory in 1917, purchased from Denmark with Saint Croix and Saint John for $25 million in gold.) Visitors love the stunning beaches, coral reefs that are excellent for scuba diving and snorkeling, and fascinating historical sites like Blackbeard's Castle. Coming in at No. 4 is Palm Beach, Florida. Here, luxury rules, and Mediterranean architecture sets a distinct look along with the tall palm trees. Expect high-end shopping and fine dining, along with museums, water activities and miles of beautiful beaches. And last on the list of where Americans are dreaming of visiting next is Turks and Caicos, located southeast of the Bahamas, which offers secluded luxury adored by celebrities. When we widen the scope and look at islands that people all over the world are searching for, the only American one is Oahu, Hawai'i. Faraway island locales like Fiji and Koh Samui pop up for affordable beauty and incredible cultural experiences. These are the top 10 island destinations based on global interest, and what they're known for: Aruba (best for year-round sunshine) Bali, Indonesia (best for relaxation) Dominican Republic (best for adventure) Fiji (best for community) Jamaica (best for culture) Koh Samui, Thailand (best for affordable luxury) Maldives (best for romance) Oahu, Hawaii (best for surfing) Paros, Greece (best for nightlife) Sardinia, Italy (best for food lovers)
The National
15-07-2025
- General
- The National
The Scot who who suggested schoolchildren be given free milk
Garlanded with honours during his long career, Boyd Orr was knighted in 1935 and created a life peer as Lord Boyd Orr in 1949. A tall, distinctive man with 'penetrating blue eyes' and 'astonishing' bushy eyebrows and who smoked a pipe, his family affectionately referred to him as 'Popeye'. Unsurprisingly, much has been written about Boyd Orr. Yet few of these narratives make mention of the driving ideological force behind his endeavours: humanism. READ MORE: Rarely seen Millais artworks to be displayed in Scotland for the first time While readers might associate humanism with celebrants who conduct wedding, funeral and naming ceremonies for the non-religious, it is, and has been, a considerably more expansive moral, ethical and rational life stance. Historian Callum Brown reassesses this aspect of Boyd Orr's career in his forthcoming book, Ninety Humanists And The Ethical Transition Of Britain. For Brown, Boyd Orr was: 'A humanist scientist whose ethical commitment drew upon humanitarianism, the autonomy of the human being and internationalism. He was devoted to a simple cause – ending hunger as a means to ending war.' Humanism and Humanitarianism BOYD Orr was born in Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, in 1880. His hostility to organised religion, Brown writes, was 'shaped in his youth and crafted an adherence to rationalist science and humanist ethics'. Boyd Orr's family home was 'strictly religious'. His Free Church father, 'enveloped the family in a regime of nightly prayers, puritan morality and Sabbath observance'. As Boyd Orr recalled in his memoir, 'promiscuous dancing' was considered abhorrent, and he did not dance until he was nearly 30. After this, he rarely missed a ceilidh. He discarded the faith of his family, although, rather confusingly, not before he had published a book on theological debate. He eschewed church, apart from a visit to a Quaker Meeting House, where he approved of the lack of ornamentation, doctrines and freedom of conscience. Reading the work of Charles Darwin led Boyd Orr, Brown argues, to break from the hold of biblical interpretation. In Glasgow, he was much affected by the deprivation he witnessed in the city's slums, then among the worst in western Europe. His experience, which included several years as a teacher in the east end, gave him an 'intense hatred of unnecessary hunger and poverty'. After a complex career of study, in which he came to specialise in nutrition, Boyd Orr graduated as a medical doctor in 1913, joining a new research centre in Aberdeen, the Rowett Institute. Following the outbreak of the First World War, Boyd Orr served as a senior medic in the Royal Army Medical Corps, rescuing the wounded at the Battle of the Somme, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. He also used his knowledge to improve the diet of soldiers. Nutrition BROWN demonstrates that Boyd Orr's humanitarian drive to understand and counter the malnourishment of the poor, and children in particular, was a constant driver in his research. Convinced of the nutritional benefits of milk, Boyd Orr was appalled it was wasted when poor families could not afford it, and that his proposals for a government scheme to supply free milk to schools were ignored. He conducted large-scale experiments in the mid-1930s which conclusively showed the benefits of milk consumption among Scottish children and was reported widely in the press as having shown that around one-third of children in Britain and Northern Ireland were malnourished. By the 1950s and 60s, the free milk in schools scheme was the eventual result of such campaigning. It was, according to Brown, the simplest and most effective mass system to improve physical health ever devised. Boyd Orr was at the forefront of an ethical movement for dietary improvement, which drew the admiration of humanists such as Julian Huxley and fellow Scot Naomi Mitchison. Throughout the 1930s and 40s, he persistently lobbied government to improve the diet of the population, advocating that food supply be subject to state intervention. In 1943, he appeared in a documentary, World Of Plenty, which presented in simple terms his argument that the world was shifting from food scarcity to plenty. The same year, he was elected to Parliament as an independent MP representing the Scottish universities. World Government BOYD Orr's ethical ambitions were greater still. In the years following the Second World War, his mission was to achieve world peace by transforming the supply of food across the globe. In 1946, acclaimed by fellow nutritionists the world over, he was appointed the first director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. Three years later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Receiving the award, he stated there would be: 'No peace in the world so long as a large proportion of the population lacks the necessities of life and believes that a change in the political and economic system will make them available. World peace must be based on world plenty.' Humanists such as HG Wells had long dreamed of utopian schemes which would create international institutions to ensure prosperity and to prevent conflict. With Boyd Orr appointed to the United Nations, such dreams seemed upon the cusp of becoming reality. Yet his plans for a World Food Bank, and a huge international project to boost agricultural productivity, lacked political support. 'Boyd Orr,' Brown argues, 'proclaimed the power of science to transform the world, to quell racism, to feed the millions and thereby to end war, travelling the world telling this story to intellectuals, medics and scientists.' On Boyd Orr's death in 1971, aged 90, an extensive obituary lauded him as 'one of the truly outstanding Scotsmen of the age'. Charlie Lynch thanks Callum Brown for providing him with a preview of his forthcoming book, Ninety Humanists And The Ethical Transition Of Britain: The Open Conspiracy 1930-80, which will be published by Bloomsbury Academic in November
