PepsiCo's CEO: C-Stores Now Offering Better Value To Consumers

Although PepsiCo Inc.'s second-quarter net income fell 3 percent on foreign currency fluctuations and charges to integrate its bottlers, sales at convenience stores have started to rebound, according to published reports.

During a conference call with investors, CEO Indra Nooyi said the beverage company is working to revive sales in North America, where shoppers have pulled back on spending to save money.

"Let's not forget that we are still in a difficult economic situation," Nooyi said. "Unemployment rates are still very, very high and a lot of the [convenience] store traffic was driven by construction workers and by people who were willing to pay the up-charge when they go to a [convenience] store. They were willing to pay for convenience."

She continued: "What has happened in stores is that the value proposition has improved. [Convenience] stores themselves have changed their pricing equation and people like PepsiCo have provided very compelling programs to bring traffic back into [convenience] stores."

Nooyi said the company will offer more initiatives in the coming year. "Our goal is to make [convenience] stores a compelling destination for people," she told investors. "Given the economic environment, given where we're seeing all of the unemployment figures headed, let's take it a quarter at a time and look and see how this whole [convenience] store business evolves. I don't want to make any prediction for how this is going to evolve balance of year."