MANILA, Philippines – Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Incorporated (PCPPI) will be closing down its snacks production line and initiating negotiations for the discontinuation of locally-made Cheetos to focus on its core business.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, September 25, PCPPI said it decided to leverage on its core competency in the beverage space, which has been its core business for 70 years.

The company said employees of its snacks plant in Cabuyao City, Laguna, will transition into new roles.

“This transition allows PCPPI to further optimize and strengthen the production and distribution of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages to millions of Filipinos worldwide,” PCPPI said.

The disclosure did not indicate the number of affected workers.

While local production of Cheetos will stop, United States-based PepsiCo will continue to import and sell it in the Philippines.

Other snacks like Lay’s, Doritos, Ruffles, Red Rock Deli, Fritos, Tostitos, SunChips, Smartfood, Munchies, and Rold Gold will continue to be supplied and be made available in-store in the Philippines.

PepsiCo and PCPPI agreed back in 2015 to locally manufacture Cheetos.

PCPPI makes and sells well-known food and beverage brands like Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, 7-Up, Mirinda, Mug, Gatorade, Tropicana, Lipton, Sting, Premier, Milkis, and Aquafina. It has established 13 operations across the country, serving more than 700,000 outlets.

The company posted a net profit of P446 million in the 1st half of 2019, recovering from the P48.6 million worth of losses during the same period last year. – Rappler.com