USA – PepsiCo, an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation, has launched a new entity in North America, called The Hive, which will focus on developing emerging brands within the company’s portfolio.

According to FoodBev, the creation of the unit aims to assist the firm in transforming its portfolio to meet changing consumer needs and deliver sustainable, long-term growth.

The Hive will nurture and grow smaller, existing brands within PepsiCo’s portfolio, including Maker Oats, Stubborn Soda and Looza fruit nectar beverage.

It will also assist new brands to develop in high-opportunity spaces.

A new team will source talent both internally and externally to build sustainable value propositions for these developing brands, drive scale of operations and distribution over time.

“We continue to learn a great deal every single day from our own innovation and experimentation experiences, from unique external partnerships we’ve crafted and from observing entrepreneurial food and beverage companies both large and small,” said president of PepsiCo North America nutrition Seth Kaufman, who will oversee The Hive.

“Rapidly adapting to changing consumer needs in a sustainable way includes fundamentally new operating models, and I could not be more excited to launch this important new group for PepsiCo.”

PepsiCo added that it has also named Emily Silver to the position of vice president and general manager of The Hive, reporting to Kaufman.

The new entity aims to stay ahead of what consumers want and carry out “rapid new product development, iterative prototyping and marketplace deployment”.

It will also further accelerate select brands acquired through the PepsiCo Ventures Group, which has been investing in and acquiring high-opportunity platforms like KeVita, a creator of sparkling probiotic drinks, kombucha beverages and apple cider vinegar tonics.

“We’re formalising a venue to embrace the agile mindset of a start-up by giving this team independence and leeway to rethink what exists today while still being able to call on the tremendous resources of PepsiCo,” added Kaufman.

“This is how we’ll deliver on consumers’ changing preferences and the fast-moving landscape like never before.”