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Pepsi set to fade away, again
SOFT-DRINK MARKET
PEPSI products look set to disappear from SA shelves again, after the Johannesburg Supreme Court put New Age Beverages, the SA bottlers and distributors of Pepsi, under judicial management on Friday. But the US soft drink company may not yet have given up on the country. It is understood NAB owes creditors about R200-million. It is estimated to have lost about R100-million and is suing 16 of its distributors to recover more than R5-million in debt. The move puts 1 200 jobs on the line, including that of Khehla Mthembu, chairman of NAB. The company declined to speculate on the future of Monwabisi Fandeso, NAB's chief operating officer in training in New York. The latest events have heightened speculation that PepsiCo is set to use the time as an opportunity to establish a PepsiCo-owned operation that would seek to minimise the problems currently plaguing NAB. Brad Shaw, spokesman for PepsiCo, said Pepsi's products would be withdrawn in South Africa, but did not rule out the possibility of a return under a "different structure". Sources indicate PepsiCo will announce a rescue package totalling about R1.5-billion, and appoint Fandeso as chief executive officer. In a statement confirmed by PepsiCo in New York, NAB said the company would start "voluntarily winding up its operations".
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