PepsiCo to buy Chinese snack brand Be & Cheery

PepsiCo, the US multinational food and beverage maker, will acquire Be & Cheery, the Chinese snack brand, from local jujube maker Haoxiangni Health Food Co Ltd for $705 million.

This acquisition is in line with PepsiCo’s goal to become China's leading consumer-focused food and beverage company.

Ram Krishnan, CEO of PepsiCo Greater China, said, “Be & Cheery adds direct-to-consumer capability, positioning us to capitalise on continued growth in e-commerce, and a local brand that is able to stretch across a broad portfolio of products, through both online and offline channels.”

“We also expect to leverage Be & Cheery's innovation and consumer insights capabilities to drive innovation in other key PepsiCo growth markets,” he added.

Incorporated in 2003, Be & Cheery is one of the largest online snack companies in China. It sells snacks from nuts to dried fruits mainly on Chinese e-commerce platforms. The company posted revenues of about 5 billion yuan ($711.7 million) in 2019.