When used in this report, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “PepsiCo” and the “Company” mean PepsiCo, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, collectively. Certain terms used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are defined in the Glossary included in Item 7. of this report.

We are organized into seven reportable segments (also referred to as divisions), as follows:

Either independently or in conjunction with third parties, FLNA makes, markets, distributes and sells branded snackconvenient foods. These foods include branded dips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos tortilla chips, Fritos corn chips, Lay’s potato chips, Ruffles potato chips and Tostitos tortilla chips. FLNA’s branded products are sold to independent distributors and retailers. In addition, FLNA’s joint venture with Strauss Group makes, markets, distributes and sells Sabra refrigerated dips and spreads.

Either independently or in conjunction with third parties, QFNA makes, markets, distributes and sells branded convenient foods, which include cereals, rice, pasta and other branded products. QFNA’s products include Aunt Jemima mixes and syrups, Cap’n Crunch cereal, Life cereal, Pearl Milling Company syrups and mixes, Quaker Chewy granola bars, Quaker grits, Quaker oatmeal, Quaker rice cakes, Quaker simply granolaSimply Granola and Rice-A-Roni side dishes. QFNA’s branded products are sold to independent distributors and retailers.

Either independently or in conjunction with third parties, PBNA makes, markets and sells beverage concentrates, fountain syrups and finished goods under various beverage brands including Aquafina, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Gatorade, Gatorade Zero, Mountain Dew, Pepsi Propel and Tropicana.Propel. PBNA operates its own bottling plants and distribution facilities and sells branded finished goods directly to independent distributors and retailers. PBNA also sells concentrate and finished goods for our brands to authorized and independent bottlers, who in turn sell our branded finished goods to independent distributors and retailers in certain markets. PBNA also, either independently or in conjunction with third parties, makes, markets, distributes and sells ready-to-drink tea and coffee products through joint ventures with Unilever (under the Lipton brand name) and Starbucks, respectively. Further, PBNA manufactures and distributes certain brands licensed from Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., including Crush, Dr Pepper and Schweppes, and certain juice brands licensed from Dole Food Company, Inc. (Dole) and Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (Ocean Spray). In 2020,the first quarter of 2022, we acquired Rockstar Energy Beverages (Rockstar)sold our Tropicana, Naked and other select juice brands to PAI Partners, while retaining a 39% noncontrolling interest in a newly formed joint venture (Juice Transaction) that will operate across North America and Europe. In the U.S., an energy drink makerPepsiCo acts as the exclusive distributor for the new joint venture’s portfolio of brands for small-format and foodservice customers with whom we had a distribution agreement prior to the acquisition.chilled direct-store-delivery. See Note 1413 to our consolidated financial statements for further information about our acquisition of Rockstar.information.

Either independently or in conjunction with third parties, LatAm makes, markets, distributes and sells a number of snackconvenient food brands including Cheetos, Doritos, Emperador, Lay’s, Mabel, Marias Gamesa, Rosquinhas Mabel, Ruffles, Sabritas, Saladitas and Tostitos, as well as many Quaker-branded cereals and snacks.convenient foods. LatAm also, either independently or in conjunction with third parties, makes, markets, distributes and sells beverage concentrates, fountain syrups and finished goods under various beverage brands including 7UP, Gatorade, H2oh!, Manzanita Sol, Mirinda, Pepsi, Pepsi Black, San Carlos and Toddy. These branded products are sold to authorized and independent bottlers, independent distributors and retailers. LatAm also, either independently or in conjunction with third parties, makes, markets, distributes and sells ready-to-drink tea products through an international joint venture with Unilever (under the Lipton brand name).

Either independently or in conjunction with third parties, AMESA makes, markets, distributes and sells a number of snackconvenient food brands including Chipsy, Doritos, Kurkure, Lay’s, Sasko, Spekko and White Star, as well as many Quaker-branded cereals and snacks,convenient foods, through consolidated businesses, as well as through noncontrolled affiliates. AMESA also makes, markets, distributes and sells beverage concentrates, fountain syrups and finished goods under various beverage brands including 7UP, Aquafina, Mirinda, Mountain Dew and Pepsi. These branded products are sold to authorized and independent bottlers, independent distributors and retailers. In certain markets, however, AMESA operates its own bottling plants and distribution facilities. AMESA also, either independently or in conjunction with third parties, makes, markets, distributes and sells ready-to-drink tea products through an international joint venture with Unilever (under the Lipton brand name). In 2020, we acquired Pioneer Food Group Ltd. (Pioneer Foods), a food and beverage company in South Africa with exports to countries across the globe. See Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements for further information about our acquisition of Pioneer Foods.

Either independently or in conjunction with third parties, APAC makes, markets, distributes and sells a number of snackconvenient food brands including BaiCaoWei, Cheetos, Doritos, Lay’s and Smith’s, as well as many Quaker-branded cereals and snacks,convenient foods, through consolidated businesses, as well as through noncontrolled affiliates. APAC also makes, markets, distributes and sells beverage concentrates, fountain syrups and finished goods under various beverage brands including 7UP, Aquafina, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Pepsi and Pepsi.Sting. These branded products are sold to authorized and independent bottlers, independent distributors and retailers. APAC also, either independently or in conjunction with third parties, makes, markets, distributes and sells ready-to-drink tea products through an international joint venture with Unilever (under the Lipton brand name). Further, APAC licenses the Tropicana brand for use in China on co-branded juice products in connection with a strategic alliance with Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. (Tingyi). In 2020, we acquired all of the outstanding shares of Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co., Ltd. (Be & Cheery), one of the largest online snacks companies in China. See Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements for further information about our acquisition of Be & Cheery.

Our products are primarily brought to market through direct-store-delivery (DSD), customer warehouse and distributor networks and are also sold directly to consumers through e-commerce platforms and retailers. The distribution system used depends on customer needs, product characteristics and local trade practices.

We, our independent bottlers and our distributors operate DSD systems that deliver beverages foods and snacksconvenient foods directly to retail stores where the products are merchandised by our employees or our independent bottlers. DSD enables us to merchandise with maximum visibility and appeal. DSD is especially well-suited to products that are restocked often and respond to in-store promotion and merchandising.

Some of our products are delivered from our manufacturing plants and distribution centers, both company and third-party operated, to customer warehouses. These less costly systems generally work best for products that are less fragile and perishable, and have lower turnover.

We distribute many of our products through third-party distributors. Third-party distributors are particularly effective when greater distribution reach can be achieved by including a wide range of products on the delivery vehicles. For example, our foodservice and vending business distributes beverages foods and snacksconvenient foods to restaurants, businesses, schools and stadiums through third-party foodservice and vending distributors and operators.

Our products are also available and sold directly to consumers on a growing number of company-owned and third-party e-commerce websites and mobile commerce applications.

The principal ingredients we use in our beverage food and snackconvenient food products are apple, orange and pineapple juice and other juice concentrates, aspartame, corn, corn sweeteners, flavorings, flour, grapefruit, oranges and other fruits, oats, potatoes, raw milk, rice, seasonings, sucralose, sugar, vegetable and essential oils, and wheat. We also use water in the manufacturing of our products. Our key packaging materials include plastic resins, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene resins used for plastic beverage bottles and film packaging used for snackconvenient foods, aluminum, glass, closures, cardboard and paperboard cartons. In addition, we continue to integrate recyclability into our product development process and support the increased use of recycled content, including recycled PET, in our packaging. Fuel, electricity and natural gas are also important commodities for our businesses due to their use in our and our business partners’ facilities and the vehicles delivering our products. We employ specialists to secure

We also maintain voluntary supply chain finance agreements with several participating global financial institutions, pursuant to which our suppliers, at their sole discretion, may elect to sell their accounts receivable with PepsiCo to such global financial institutions. These agreements havedid not hadhave a material impact on our business or financial results. See “Our Financial Results – Our Liquidity and Capital Resources” in Item“Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsOperations” for further information.

We own numerous valuable trademarks which are essential to our worldwide businesses, including Agusha, Amp Energy, Aquafina, Aquafina Flavorsplash, Arto Lifewtr, Aunt Jemima, BaiCaoWei, Bare, Bokomo, Bolt24, bubly, Cap’n Crunch, Ceres, Cheetos, Chester’s, Chipita, Chipsy, Chokis, Chudo, Cracker Jack, Crunchy, Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Mug, Diet Pepsi, Diet 7UP (outside the United States), Domik v Derevne, Doritos, Driftwell, Duyvis, Elma Chips, Emperador, Evolve, Frito-Lay, Fritos, Fruktovy Sad, G2, Gamesa, Gatorade, Gatorade Zero, Gatorlyte, Grandma’s, H2oh!, Health Warrior, Imunele, Izze, J-7 Tonus,J7, Kas, KeVita, Kurkure, Lay’s, Life, Lifewtr, Liquifruit, Lubimy, Mabel, Manzanita Sol, Marias Gamesa, Matutano, Mirinda, Miss Vickie’s, Moirs, Mother’s, Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Code Red, Mountain Dew Game Fuel, Mountain Dew Ice, Mountain Dew Kickstart, Mountain Dew Zero Sugar, MTN Dew Energy, Mug, Munchies, Muscle Milk, Naked, Near East, Off the Eaten Path, O.N.E., Paso de los Toros, Pasta Roni, Pearl Milling Company, Pepsi, Pepsi Black, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Zero Sugar, PopCorners, Pronutro, Propel, Quaker, Quaker Chewy, Quaker Simply Granola, Rice-A-Roni, Rockstar Energy, Rold Gold, Rosquinhas Mabel, Ruffles, Sabritas, Safari, Sakata, Saladitas, San Carlos, Sandora, Santitas, Sasko, 7UP (outside the United States), 7UP Free (outside the United States), Sierra Mist, Sierra Mist Zero Sugar, Simba, Smartfood, Smith’s, Snack a Jacks, SoBe, SodaStream, Sonric’s, Spekko, Stacy’s, Sting, Stubborn Soda, SunChips, Toddy, Toddynho, Tostitos, Trop 50, Tropicana, Tropicana Pure Premium, Tropicana Twister, V Water, Vesely Molochnik, Walkers, Weetbix, White Star, Ya and Yachak. We also hold long-term licenses to use valuable trademarks in connection with our products in certain markets, including Dole and Ocean Spray. We also distribute Bang Energy drinks and various Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. brands, including Dr Pepper in certain markets, Crush and Schweppes. Joint ventures in which we have an ownership interest either own or have the right to use certain trademarks, such as Lipton, Sabra and Starbucks. In addition, in the first quarter of 2022, we sold our Tropicana, Naked and other select juice brands to PAI Partners while retaining a 39% noncontrolling interest in a newly formed joint venture that will operate across North America and Europe. In the U.S., PepsiCo acts as the exclusive distributor for the new joint venture’s portfolio of brands for small-format and foodservice customers with chilled direct-store-delivery. See Note 13 to our consolidated financial statements for further information. In 2022, we will also begin to distribute Hard MTN Dew, an alcoholic beverage manufactured and owned by the Boston Beer Company. We have licensed the use of the Hard MTN Dew trademark to the Boston Beer Company, which has appointed us as their distributor for this product. Trademarks remain valid so long as they are used properly for identification purposes, and we emphasize correct use of our trademarks. We have authorized, through licensing arrangements, the use of many of our trademarks in such contexts as snackconvenient food joint ventures and beverage bottling appointments. In addition, we license the use of our trademarks on merchandise that is sold at retail, which enhances brand awareness.

We either own or have licenses to use a number of patents which relate to certain of our products, their packaging, the processes for their production and the design and operation of various equipment used in our businesses. Some of these patents are licensed to others.

Our businesses are affected by seasonal variations. Our beverage food and snackconvenient food sales are generally highest in the third quarter due to seasonal and holiday-related patterns and generally lowest in the first quarter. However, taken as a whole, seasonality has not had a material impact on our consolidated financial results.

Our customers include wholesale and other distributors, foodservice customers, grocery stores, drug stores, convenience stores, discount/dollar stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, hard discounters, e-commerce retailers and authorized independent bottlers, among others. We normally grant our independent bottlers exclusive contracts to sell and manufacture certain beverage products bearing our trademarks within a specific geographic area. These arrangements provide us with the right to charge our independent bottlers for concentrate, finished goods and Aquafina royalties and specify the manufacturing process required for product quality. We also grant distribution rights to our independent bottlers for certain beverage products bearing our trademarks for specified geographic areas.

We rely on and provide financial incentives to our customers to assist in the distribution and promotion of our products to the consumer. For our independent distributors and retailers, these incentives include volume-based rebates, product placement fees, promotions and displays. For our independent bottlers, these incentives are referred to as bottler funding and are negotiated annually with each bottler to support a variety of trade and consumer programs, such as consumer incentives, advertising support, new product support, and vending and cooler equipment placement. Consumer incentives include pricing discounts and promotions, and other promotional offers. Advertising support is directed at advertising programs and supporting independent bottler media. New product support includes targeted consumer and retailer incentives and direct marketplace support, such as point-of-purchase materials, product placement fees, media and advertising. Vending and cooler equipment placement programs support the acquisition and placement of vending machines and cooler equipment. The nature and type of programs vary annually.

Changes to the retail landscape, including increased consolidation of retail ownership, the rapidcontinued growth of sales through e-commerce websites and mobile commerce applications, including through subscription services and other direct-to-consumer businesses, the integration of physical and digital operations among retailers, as well as the international expansion of hard discounters, and the current economic environment, including in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, continue to increase the importance of major customers. In 2020,2021, sales to Walmart Inc. (Walmart) and its affiliates, including Sam’s Club (Sam’s), represented approximately 14%13% of our consolidated net revenue, with sales reported across all of our divisions, including concentrate sales to our independent bottlers, which were used in finished goods sold by them to Walmart. The loss of this customer would have a material adverse effect on our FLNA, QFNA and PBNA divisions.

Our beverage food and snackconvenient food products are in highly competitive categories and markets and compete against products of international beverage food and snackconvenient food companies that, like us, operate in multiple geographies, as well as regional, local and private label manufacturers and economy brands and other competitors, including smaller companies developing and selling micro brands directly to consumers through e-commerce platforms or through retailers focused on locally-sourced products. In many countries in which our products are sold, including the United States, The Coca-Cola Company is our primary beverage competitor. Other beverage food and snackconvenient food competitors include, but are not limited to,

Many of our convenient food and snack products hold significant leadership positions in the convenient food and snack industry in the United States and worldwide. In 2020,2021, we and The Coca-Cola Company represented approximately 22% and 20%19%, respectively, of the U.S. liquid refreshment beverage category by estimated retail sales in measured channels, according to Information Resources, Inc. However, The Coca-Cola

Company has significant carbonated soft drink (CSD) share advantage in many markets outside the United States.

Our beverage food and snackconvenient food products compete primarily on the basis of brand recognition and loyalty, taste, price, value, quality, product variety, innovation, distribution, advertising, marketing and promotional activity (including digital), packaging, convenience, service and the ability to anticipate and effectively respond to consumer preferences and trends, including increased consumer focus on health and wellness and sustainability and the continued acceleration of e-commerce and other methods of distributing and purchasing products. Success in this competitive environment is dependent on effective promotion of existing products, effective introduction of new products and reformulations of existing products, increased efficiency in production techniques, effective incorporation of technology and digital tools across all areas of our business, the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns, marketing programs, product packaging and pricing, new vending and dispensing equipment and brand and trademark development and protection. We believe that the strength of our brands, innovation and marketing, coupled with the quality of our products and flexibility of our distribution network, allows us to compete effectively.

We engage in a variety of research and development activities and invest in innovation globally with the goal of meeting the needs of our customers and consumers and accelerating growth. These activities principally involve: innovations focused on creating consumer preferred products to grow and transform our portfolio through development of new technologies, ingredients, flavors and substrates; development and improvement of our manufacturing processes including reductions in cost and environmental footprint; implementing product improvements to our global portfolio that reduce added sugars, sodium or saturated fat; offering more products with functional ingredients and positive nutrition including whole grains, fruit, vegetables, dairy, protein, fiber, micronutrients and hydration; development of packaging technology and new package designs, including reducing the amount of plastic in our packaging and developing recyclable, andcompostable, biodegradable or otherwise sustainable packaging; development of marketing, merchandising and dispensing equipment; further expanding our beyond the bottle portfolio including innovation for our SodaStream business; investments in technology and digitalization, including artificial intelligence and data analytics to enhance our consumer insights and research; continuing to strengthen our omnichannel capabilities, particularly in e-commerce; and efforts focused on reducing our impact on the environment, including reducing water use in our operations and our agricultural practices.practices and reducing our climate impact in our operations throughout our value chain.

Our research centers are located around the world, including in Brazil, China, India, Ireland, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, and leverage consumer insights, food science and engineering to meet our strategy to continually innovate our portfolio of beverages and convenient foods and beverages.foods.

The conduct of our businesses, including the production, storage, distribution, sale, display, advertising, marketing, labeling, content, quality, safety, transportation, packaging, disposal, recycling and use of our products, as well as our employment and occupational health and safety practices and protection of personal information, are subject to various laws and regulations administered by federal, state and local governmental agencies in the United States, as well as to laws and regulations administered by

The U.S. laws and regulations that we are subject to include, but are not limited to: the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and various state laws governing food safety; the Food Safety Modernization Act; the Occupational Safety and Health Act and various state laws and regulations governing workplace health and safety; various federal, state and local environmental protection laws, as discussed below; the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act; the Federal Trade Commission Act; the Lanham Act; various federal and state laws and regulations governing competition and trade practices; various federal and state laws and regulations governing our employment practices, including those related to equal employment opportunity, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act and the National Labor Relations Act and those related to overtime compensation, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act; various state and federal laws pertaining to sale and distribution of alcohol beverages; data privacy and personal data protection laws and regulations, including the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018;2018 (as modified by the California Privacy Rights Act); customs and foreign trade laws and regulations, including laws regarding the import or export of our products or ingredients used in our products and tariffs; laws regulating the sale of certain of our products in schools; laws regulating our supply chain, including the 2010 California Transparency in Supply Chains Act and laws relating to the payment of taxes. We are also required to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act. We are also subject to various state and local statutes and regulations, including state consumer protection laws such as Proposition 65 in California, which requires that a specific warning appear on any product that contains a substance listed by the State of California as having been found to cause cancer or birth defects, unless the amount of such substance in the product is below a safe harbor level.

We are subject to numerous similar and other laws and regulations outside the United States, including but not limited to laws and regulations governing food safety, international trade and tariffs, supply chain, including the U.K. Modern Slavery Act, occupational health and safety, competition, anti-corruption and data privacy, including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation. In many jurisdictions, compliance with competition laws is of special importance to us due to our competitive position in those jurisdictions, as is compliance with anti-corruption laws, including the U.K. Bribery Act. We rely on legal and operational compliance programs, as well as in-house and outside counsel and other experts, to guide our businesses in complying with the laws and regulations around the world that apply to our businesses.

In addition, certain jurisdictions have either imposed, or are considering imposing, new or increased taxes on the manufacture, distribution or sale of our products, ingredients or substances contained in, or attributes of, our products or commodities used in the production of our products. These taxes vary in scope and form: some apply to all beverages, including non-caloric beverages, while others apply only to beverages with a caloric sweetener (e.g., sugar). Similarly, some measures apply a single tax rate per ounce/liter on beverages containing over a certain level of added sugar (or other sweetener) while others apply a graduated tax rate depending upon the amount of added sugar (or other sweetener) in the beverage and some apply a flat tax rate on beverages containing a particular substance or ingredient, regardless of the level of such substance or ingredient.

In addition, certain jurisdictions have either imposed, or are considering imposing, product labeling or warning requirements or other limitations on the marketing or sale of certain of our products as a result of ingredients or substances contained in such products or the audience to whom products are marketed. These types of provisions have required that we highlight perceived concerns about a product, warn consumers to avoid consumption of certain ingredients or substances present in our products, restrict the age of consumers to whom products are marketed or sold or limit the location in which our products may be available. It is possible that similar or more restrictive requirements may be proposed or enacted in the future.

deposit return systems designed to incentivize the return of beverage containers, to extended producer responsibility policies and even bans on the use of some types of single-use plastics. It is possible that similar or more restrictive requirements may be proposed or enacted in the future.

We are also subject to national and local environmental laws in the United States and in foreign countries in which we do business, including laws related to water consumption and treatment, wastewater discharge and air emissions. In the United States, our facilities must comply with the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and other federal and state laws regarding handling, storage, release and disposal of wastes generated onsite and sent to third-party owned and operated offsite licensed facilities and our facilities outside the United States must comply with similar laws and regulations. In addition, continuing concern over environmental, social and governance matters, including climate change, mayis expected to continue to result in new or increased legal and regulatory requirements (in or outside of the United States) to reduce or mitigate the potential effects of greenhouse gases, or to limit or impose additional costs on commercial water use due to local water scarcity concerns.concerns or to expand mandatory reporting of certain environmental, social and governance metrics. Our policy is to abide by all applicable environmental laws and regulations, and we have internal programs in place with respect to our global environmental compliance. We have made, and plan to continue making, necessary expenditures for compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations.regulations and to achieve our sustainability goals. While these expenditures have not had a material impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations to date, changes in environmental compliance requirements, and any expenditures necessary to comply with such requirements or to achieve our sustainability goals, could adversely affect our financial performance. In addition, we and our subsidiaries are subject to environmental remediation obligations arising in the normal course of business, as well as remediation and related indemnification obligations in connection with certain historical activities and contractual obligations, including those of businesses acquired by us or our subsidiaries. While these environmental remediation and indemnification obligations cannot be predicted with certainty, such obligations have not had, and are not expected to have, a material impact on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position.

In addition to the discussion in this section, see also “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

PepsiCo believes that human capital management, including attracting, developing and retaining a high quality workforce, is critical to our long-term success. Our Board of Directors (Board) and its Committees provide oversight on a broad range of human capital management topics, including corporate culture, diversity, equity and inclusion, pay equity, health and safety, training and development and compensation and benefits.

We employed approximately 291,000309,000 people worldwide as of December 26, 2020,25, 2021, including approximately 120,000129,000 people within the United States. We are party to numerous collective bargaining agreements and believe that relations with our employees are generally good.

Protecting the safety, health, and well-being of our associates around the world is PepsiCo’s top priority. We strive to achieve an injury-free work environment. We also continue to invest in emerging technologies to protect our employees from injuries, including leveraging fleet telematics and distracted driving technology, resulting in reductions in road traffic accidents, and deploying wearable ergonomic risk reduction devices. In addition, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have remained focused on the health and safety of our associates, especially our frontline associates who continue to make, move and sell our products during this critical time, including by implementing newcontinuing to implement various safety protocols in our facilities, providing personal protective equipment and enabling testing.

We believe that our culture of diversity, equity and inclusion is a competitive advantage that fuels innovation, enhances our ability to attract and retain talent and strengthens our reputation. We continually strive to

We are also committed to the continued growth and development of our associates. PepsiCo supports and develops its associates through a variety of global training and development programs that build and strengthen employees' leadership and professional skills, including career development plans, mentoring programs and in-house learning opportunities, such as PEP U Degreed, our internal global online learning resource. In 2020,2021, PepsiCo employees completed over 875,0001,000,000 hours of training.

The following risks, some of which have occurred and any of which may occur in the future, can have a material adverse effect on our business or financial performance, which in turn can affect the price of our publicly traded securities. These are not the only risks we face. There may be other risks we are not currently aware of or that we currently deem not to be material but that may become material in the future.

Demand for our products depends in part on our ability to innovate and anticipate and effectively respond to shifts in consumer trends and preferences, including the types of products our consumers want and how they browse for, purchase and consume them. Consumer preferences continuously evolve due to a variety of factors, including: changes in consumer demographics, consumption patterns and channel preferences (including continued rapid increases in the e-commerce and online-to-offline channels); pricing; product quality; concerns or perceptions regarding packaging and its environmental impact (such as single-use and other plastic packaging); and concerns or perceptions regarding the nutrition profile and health effects of, or location of origin of, ingredients or substances in our products.products or packaging, including due to the results of third-party studies (whether or not scientifically valid). Concerns with any of the foregoing could lead consumers to reduce or publicly boycott the purchase or consumption of our products. Consumer

preferences are also influenced by perception of our brand image or the brand images of our products, the success of our advertising and marketing campaigns, our ability to engage with our consumers in the manner they prefer, including through the use of digital media or assets, and the perception of our use, and the use of social media. These and other factors have reduced in the past and could continue to reduce consumers’ willingness to purchase certain of our products. Any inability on our part to anticipate

Maintaining a positive reputation globally is critical to selling our products. Our reputation or brand image has in the past been, and could in the future be, adversely impacted by a variety of factors, including: any failure by us or our business partners to maintain high ethical, social, business and environmental, social and governance practices, including with respect to human rights, child labor laws, diversity, equity and inclusion, workplace conditions and employee health and safety; any failure to achieve our sustainabilityenvironmental, social and governance goals, including with respect to the nutrition profile of our products, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, packaging, water use and our impact on the environment; any failure to address health concerns about our products, products we distribute, or particular ingredients in our products, including concerns regarding whether certain of our products contribute to obesity;obesity or an increase in public health costs; our research and development efforts; any product quality or safety issues, including the recall of any of our products; any failure to comply with laws and regulations; consumer perception of our advertising campaigns, sponsorship arrangements, marketing programs, and use of social media;media and our response to political and social issues or catastrophic events; or any failure to effectively respond to negative or inaccurate comments about us on social media or otherwise regarding any of the foregoing. Damage to our reputation or brand image has in the past and could in the future decrease demand for our products, thereby adversely affecting our business.

ProductWe have and could in the future recall products due to product quality or safety issues, including actual or alleged mislabeling, misbranding, spoilage, undeclared allergens, adulteration or contamination,contamination. Product recalls have in the past and could in the future adversely affect our business by resulting in losses due to their cost, the destruction of product inventory or lost sales due to any unavailability of the product for a period of time. In addition, product quality or safety issues, whether as a result of failure to comply with food safety laws or otherwise, have in the past and could in the future also reduce consumer confidence and demand for our products, cause production and delivery disruptions, require product recalls and result in increased costs (including payment of fines and/or judgments) and damage our reputation, particularly as we expand into new categories, such as nuts and meat convenient foods globally and the distribution of alcoholic beverages in the United States, all of which can adversely affect our business. Failure to maintain adequate oversight over product quality or safety can result in product recalls, litigation, government investigations or inquiries or civil or criminal proceedings, all of which may result in fines, penalties, damages or criminal liability. Our business can also be adversely affected if consumers lose confidence in product quality, safety and integrity generally, even if such loss of confidence is unrelated to products in our portfolio.

Our products compete against products of international beverage food and snackconvenient food companies that, like us, operate in multiple geographies, as well as regional, local and private label and economy brand manufacturers and other competitors, including smaller companies developing and selling micro brands directly to consumers through e-commerce platforms or through retailers focused on locally sourced products. In many countries in which our products are sold, including the United States, The Coca-Cola Company is our primary beverage competitor. Our products compete primarily on the basis of brand recognition and loyalty, taste, price, value, quality, product variety, innovation, distribution, advertising, marketing and promotional activity, packaging, convenience, service and the ability to anticipate and effectively respond to consumer preferences and trends. Our business can be adversely affected if we are unable to effectively promote or develop our existing products or introduce and effectively market new products, if we are unable to effectively adopt new technologies, including artificial intelligence and data analytics to develop new commercial insights and improve operating efficiencies, if we are unable to continuously strengthen and evolve our capabilities in digital marketing, if our competitors spend more aggressively than we do or if we are otherwise unable to effectively respond to supply disruptions, pricing pressure (including as a result of commodity inflation) or otherwise compete effectively, and we may be unable to grow or maintain sales or category share or we may need to increase capital, marketing or other expenditures.

Our business requires that we attract, develop and maintain a highly skilled and diverse workforce. Our employees are highly sought after by our competitors and other companies and our continued ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to attract, retain, develop and motivate highly skilled personnel for all areas of our organization. Any unplanned turnover, sustained labor shortage or unsuccessful implementation of our succession plans to backfill current leadership positions, including the Chief Executive Officer, or failure to attract, develop and maintain a highly skilled and diverse workforce, including with key capabilities such as e-commerce and digital marketing and data analytic skills, can deplete our institutional knowledge base, erode our competitive advantage or result in increased costs due to increased competition for employees, higher employee turnover or increased employee benefit costs. In addition, failure to attract, retain and develop associates from underrepresented communities can damage our business results and our reputation. Any of the foregoing can adversely affect our business.

We and our business partners use water in the manufacturing and sourcing of our products. Water is also essential to the production of the raw materials needed in our manufacturing process. Lack of available water of acceptable quality, increasing focus by governmental and non-governmental organizations, investors, customers and consumers on water scarcity and increasing pressure to conserve and replenish water in areas of scarcity and stress, including due to the effects of climate change, may lead to: supply chain disruption; adverse effects on our operations or the operations of our business partners; higher compliance costs; capital expenditures (including investments in the development of technologies to enhance water efficiency and reduce consumption); higher production costs, including less favorable pricing for water; the interruption or cessation of operations at, or relocation of, our facilities or the facilities of our business partners; failure to achieve our sustainability goals relating to water use; perception of our failure to act responsibly with respect to water use or to effectively respond to legal or regulatory requirements concerning water scarcity; or damage to our reputation, any of which can adversely affect our business.

The retail landscape continues to evolve, including rapidcontinued growth in e-commerce channels and hard discounters. Our business will be adversely affected if we are unable to maintain and develop successful relationships with e-commerce retailers and hard discounters, while also maintaining relationships with our key customers operating in traditional retail channels (many of whom are also focused on increasing their e-commerce sales). Our business can be adversely affected if e-commerce channels and hard discounters take significant additional market share away from traditional retailers or we fail to find ways to create more powerfulincreasingly better digital tools and capabilities for our retail customers to enable them to grow their businesses. In addition, our business can be adversely affected if we are unable to profitably expand our own direct-to-consumer e-commerce capabilities. The retail industry is also impacted by increased consolidation of ownership and purchasing power, particularly in North America, Europe and Latin America, resulting in large retailers or buying groups with increased purchasing power, impacting our ability to compete in these areas. Consolidation also adversely impacts our smaller customers’ ability to compete effectively, resulting in an inability on their part to pay for our products or reduced or canceled orders of our products. Further, we must maintain mutually beneficial relationships with our key customers, including Walmart, to compete effectively. Any inability to resolve a significant dispute with any of our key customers, a change in the business condition (financial or otherwise) of any of our key customers, even if unrelated to us, a significant reduction in sales to any key customer, or the loss of any of our key customers can adversely affect our business.

We have experienced and could continue to experience disruption in our manufacturing operations and supply chain. Many of the raw materials and supplies used in the production of our products are sourced from countries experiencing civil unrest, political instability or unfavorable economic conditions. Some raw materials and supplies, including packaging materials, such as recycled PET, are available only from a limited number of suppliers or from a sole supplier or are in short supply when seasonal demand is at its peak. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain favorable arrangements and relationships with suppliers or that our contingency plans will be effective to prevent disruptions that may arise from shortages or discontinuation of any raw materials and other supplies that we use in the manufacture, production and distribution of our products. Any sustained or significant disruption to the manufacturing or sourcing of products or materials could increase our costs and interrupt product supply, which can adversely impact our business.

The raw materials and other supplies, including agricultural commodities, fuel and fuel,packaging materials, such as recycled PET, transportation, labor and other supply chain inputs that we use for the manufacturing, production and distribution of our products are subject to price volatility and fluctuations in availability caused by many factors, including changes in supply and demand, supplier capacity constraints, inflation, weather conditions (including potential effects of climate change), fire, natural disasters, disease or pests (including the impact of greening disease on the citrus industry), agricultural uncertainty, health epidemics or pandemics or other contagious outbreaks (including COVID-19), labor shortages (including the lack of availability of truck drivers or as a result of COVID-19), strikes or work stoppages, governmental incentives and controls (including import/export restrictions, such as new or increased tariffs, sanctions, quotas or trade barriers), port congestions or delays, transport capacity constraints, cybersecurity incidents or other disruptions, loss or impairment of key manufacturing sites, political uncertainties, acts of terrorism, governmental instability or currency exchange rates. Many of our raw materials and supplies are purchased in the open market. Themarket and the prices we pay for such items are subject to fluctuation. If price changes result in unexpectedWe experienced higher than anticipated commodity, packaging and transportation costs during 2021, which may continue. When input prices increase unexpectedly or significant increases in the costssignificantly, we may

be unwilling or unable to increase our product prices or unable to effectively hedge against price increases to offset these increased costs without suffering reduced volume, revenue, margins and operating results.

Political and social conditions in the markets in which our products are sold have been and could continue to be difficult to predict, resulting in adverse effects on our business. The results of elections, referendums or other political conditions (including government shutdowns)shutdowns or hostilities between countries) in these markets including the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, have in the past and could continue to impact how existing laws, regulations and government programs or policies are implemented or result in uncertainty as to how such laws, regulations, programs or policies may change, including with respect to tariffs, sanctions, environmental and climate change regulations, taxes, benefit programs, the movement of goods, services and people between countries, relationships between countries, customer or consumer perception of a particular country or its government and other matters, and has resulted in and could continue to result in exchange rate fluctuation, volatility in global stock markets and global economic uncertainty or adversely affect demand for our products, any of which can adversely affect our business. In addition, political and social conditions in certain cities throughout the U.S. as well as globally have resulted in demonstrations and protests, including in connection with political elections and civil rights and liberties. Our operations, including the distribution of our products and the ingredients or other raw materials used in the production of our products, may be disrupted if such events persist for a prolonged period of time, including due to actions taken by governmental authorities in affected cities and regions, which can adversely affect our business.

Our success depends in part on our ability to grow our business in developing and emerging markets, including Mexico, Russia, the Middle East, Brazil, China, South Africa, Brazil and India. There can be no assurance that our products will be accepted or be successful in any particular developing or emerging market, due to competition, price, cultural differences, consumer preferences, method of distribution or otherwise. Our business in these markets has been and could continue in the future to be impacted by economic, political and social conditions; acts of war, terrorist acts, and civil unrest, including demonstrations and protests; competition; tariffs, sanctions or other regulations restricting contact with

Many of the jurisdictions in which our products are sold have experienced and could continue to experience uncertain or unfavorable economic conditions, such as recessions or economic slowdowns,

which have and could continue to result in adverse changes in interest rates, tax laws or tax rates; inflation; volatile commodity markets; labor shortages; highly inflationary economies, devaluation, fluctuation or demonetization;demonetization of currency; contraction in the availability of credit; demonetization, austerity or stimulus measures; the effects of any default by or deterioration in the creditworthiness of the countries in which our products are sold; or a decrease in the fair value of pension or post-retirement assets that could increase future employee benefit costs and/or funding requirements of our pension or post-retirement plans. In addition, we cannot predict how current or future economic conditions will affect our business partners, including financial institutions with whom we do business, and any negative impact on any of the foregoing may also have an adverse impact on our business.

We depend on information systems and technology, including public websites and cloud-based services, for many activities important to our business, including communications within our company, interfacing with customers and consumers; ordering and managing inventory; managing and operating our facilities; protecting confidential information;information, including personal data we collect; maintaining accurate financial records and complying with regulatory, financial reporting, legal and tax requirements. Our business has in the past and could in the future be negatively affected by system shutdowns, degraded systems performance, systems disruptions or security incidents. These disruptions or incidents may be caused by cyberattacks and other cyber incidents, network or power outages, software, equipment or telecommunications failures, the unintentional or malicious actions of employees or contractors, natural disasters, fires or other catastrophic events. Cyberattacks and other cyber incidents are occurring more frequently, the techniques used to gain access to information technology systems and data, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems are constantly evolving in nature, areand becoming more sophisticated in nature and are being carried out by groups and individuals with a wide range of expertise and motives. Cyberattacks and cyber incidents may be difficult to detect for periods of time and take many forms including cyber extortion, denial of service, social engineering, introduction of viruses or malware (such as ransomware), exploiting vulnerabilities in hardware, software or other infrastructure, hacking, website defacement or theft of passwords and other credentials, unauthorized use of computing resources for digital currency mining and business email compromise. As with other global companies, we are regularly subject to cyberattacks and other cyber incidents, including many of the types of attacks and incidents described above. If we do not allocate and effectively manage the resources necessary to continue to buildbuilding and maintainmaintaining our information technology infrastructure, or if

Similar risks exist with respect to third-party providers, including suppliers, software and cloud-based service providers, that we rely upon for aspects of our information technology support services and administrative functions, including payroll processing, health and benefit plan administration and certain finance and accounting functions, and the systems managed, hosted, provided and/or used by such third parties and their vendors. For example, malicious actors have employed and could continue to employ the information technology supply chain to introduce malware through software updates or compromised supplier accounts or hardware. The need to coordinate with various third-party service providers, including with respect to timely notification and access to personnel and information concerning an incident, may complicate our efforts to resolve issues that arise. As a result, we are subject to the risk that

the activities associated with our third-party service providers can adversely affect our business even if the attack or breach does not directly impact our systems or information.

Although the cyber incidents and other systems disruptions that we have experienced to date have not had a material effect on our business, such incidents or disruptions could have a material adverse effect on us in the future. While we devote significant resources to network security, disaster recovery, employee training and other security measures to protectsecure our information technology systems and prevent unauthorized access to or loss of data, there are no assurancesguarantees that such measuresthey will protect usbe adequate to safeguard against all cyber incidents, systems disruptions, system compromises or systems disruptions.misuses of data. In addition, while we currently maintain insurance coverage that, subject to its terms and conditions, is intended to address costs associated with certain aspects of cyber incidents and information systems failures, this insurance coverage may not, depending on the specific facts and circumstances surrounding an incident, cover all losses or all types of claims that arise from an incident, or the damage to our reputation or brands that may result from an incident.

We regularly review our portfolio of businesses and evaluate potential acquisitions, joint ventures, distribution agreements, divestitures, refranchisings and other strategic transactions. The success of these transactions, including the recent completion of the Juice Transaction, is dependent upon, among other things, our ability to realize the full extent of the expected returns, benefits, cost savings or synergies as a result of a transaction, within the anticipated time frame, or at all; and receipt of necessary consents, clearances and approvals; and diversion of management’s attention from day-to-day operations.approvals. Risks associated with strategic transactions include integrating manufacturing, distribution, sales, accounting, financial reporting and administrative support activities and information technology systems with our company;company or difficulties separating such personnel, activities and systems in connection with divestitures; operating through new business models or in new categories or territories; motivating, recruiting and retaining executives and key employees; conforming controls (including internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures) and policies (including with respect to environmental compliance, health and safety compliance and compliance with anti-bribery laws); retaining existing customers and consumers and attracting new customers and consumers; managing tax costs or inefficiencies; maintaining good relations with divested or refranchised businesses in our supply or sales chain; inability to offset loss of revenue associated with divested brands or businesses; managing the impact of business decisions or other actions or omissions of our joint venture partners that may have different interests than we do; and other unanticipated problems or liabilities, such as contingent liabilities and litigation. Strategic transactions that are not successfully completed or managed effectively, or our failure to effectively manage the risks associated with such transactions, have in the past and could continue to result in adverse effects on our business.

We rely on third-party service providers, including cloud data service providers, for certain areas of our business, including payroll processing, health and benefit plan administration and certain finance and accounting functions. Failure by these third parties to meet their contractual, regulatory and other obligations to us, or our failure to adequately monitor their performance, has in the past and could

damage to our reputation or have a negative impact on employee morale, all of which can adversely affect our business.

Climate change may have a negative effect on agricultural productivity which may result in decreased availability or less favorable pricing for certain commodities that are necessary for our products, such as potatoes, sugar cane, corn, wheat, rice, oats, oranges and other fruits (and fruit-derived oils). In addition, climate change may also increase the frequency or severity of natural disasters and other extreme weather conditions (including rising temperatures and drought), which could pose physical risks to our facilities, impair our production capabilities, disrupt our supply chain or impact demand for our products. Also, concern overthere is an increased focus in many jurisdictions in which our products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold regarding environmental policies relating to climate change, regulating greenhouse gas emissions, energy policies and sustainability, including single-use plastics. This increased focus may result in new or increased legal and regulatory requirements, to reduce or mitigate the effects of climate change,such as potential carbon pricing programs, which could result in significant increased costs and require additional investments in facilities and equipment. As a result, the effects of climate change can negatively affect our business and operations. In addition, any failure to achieve our goals with respect to reducing our impact on the environment or perception of a failure to act responsibly with respect to the environment or to effectively respond to regulatory requirements concerning climate change can lead to adverse publicity, resulting in an adverse effect onwhich could adversely affect demand for our businessproducts or damage to our reputation. Any of the foregoing can adversely affect our business.

Many of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and other employees may seek to be covered by collective bargaining agreements. Strikes or work stoppages or other business interruptions canhave occurred and may occur in the future if we are unable to renew, or enter into new, collective bargaining agreements on satisfactory terms and can impair manufacturing and distribution of our products, lead to a loss of sales, increase our costs or otherwise affect our ability to fully implement future operational changes to enhance our efficiency or to adapt to changing business needs or strategy, all of which can adversely affect our business.

Our future growth depends, in part, on our ability to continue to reduce costs and improve efficiencies, including implementingour multi-year phased implementation of shared business service organizational models. We continue to identify and implement productivity initiatives that we believe will position our business for long-term sustainable growth by allowing us to achieve a lower cost structure, improve decision-making and operate more efficiently. Some of these measures result in unintended consequences, such as business disruptions, distraction of management and employees, reduced morale and productivity, unexpected

employee attrition, an inability to attract or retain key personnel and negative publicity. If we are unable to successfully implement our productivity initiatives as planned or do not achieve expected savings as a

We conduct impairment tests on our goodwill and other indefinite-lived intangible assets annually or more frequently if circumstances indicate that impairment may have occurred. In addition, amortizable intangible assets, property, plant and equipment and other long-lived assets are evaluated for impairment upon a significant change in the operating or macroeconomic environment. A deterioration in our underlying assumptions regarding the impact of competitive operating conditions, macroeconomic conditions or other factors used to estimate the future performance of any of our reporting units or assets, including any deterioration in the weighted-average cost of capital based on market data available at the time, can result in an impairment charge, which can adversely affect our results of operations.

Because our consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, the financial statements of our subsidiaries outside the United States, where the functional currency is other than the U.S. dollar, are translated into U.S. dollars. Given our global operations, we also pay for the ingredients, raw materials and commodities used in our business in numerous currencies. Fluctuations in exchange rates, including as a result of inflation, central bank monetary policies, currency controls or other currency exchange restrictions have had, and could continue to have, an adverse impact on our financial performance.

Rating agencies routinely evaluate us and their ratings are based on a number of factors, including our cash generating capability, levels of indebtedness, policies with respect to shareholder distributions and our financial strength generally, as well as factors beyond our control, such as the state of the economy and our industry. We expect to maintain Tier 1 commercial paper access, which we believe will facilitate appropriate financial flexibility and ready access to global credit markets at favorable interest rates. Any downgrade or announcement that we are under review for a potential downgrade of our credit ratings, especially any downgrade to below investment grade, can increase our future borrowing costs, impair our ability to access capital and credit markets on terms commercially acceptable to us or at all, result in a reduction in our liquidity, or impair our ability to access the commercial paper market with the same flexibility that we have experienced historically (and therefore require us to rely more heavily on more expensive types of debt financing), all of which can adversely affect our financial performance.

Certain jurisdictions in which our products are sold have either imposed, or are considering imposing, limitations on the marketing or sale of our products as a result of ingredients or substances in our products. These limitations require that we highlight perceived concerns about a product, warn consumers to avoid consumption of certain ingredients or substances present in our products, restrict the age of consumers to whom products are marketed or sold or limit the location in which our products may be available. For example, Mexico has imposedArgentina and Colombia enacted warning labeling requirements in 2021 to indicate whether a stop-sign labeling schemeparticular pre-packaged food or beverage product is considered to signal the presence of non-caloric sweeteners and caffeinebe high in pre-packaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages.sugar, sodium or saturated fat. Certain jurisdictions have imposed or are considering imposing color-coded labeling requirements where colors such as red, yellow and green are used to indicate various levels of a particular ingredient, such as sugar, sodium or saturated fat, in products. The imposition or proposed imposition of additional limitations on the marketing or sale of our products has in the past and could continue to reduce overall consumption of our products, lead to negative publicity or leave consumers with the perception that our products do not meet their health and wellness needs, resulting in an adverse effect on our business and financial performance.

We rely on diverse packaging solutions to safely deliver products to our customers and consumers. Certain of our products are sold in plastic or other packaging designed to be recyclable.recyclable or commercially compostable. However, not all packaging is recycled, whether due to lack of infrastructure or otherwise, and certain of our packaging is not currently recyclable. Packaging waste not properly disposed of that displays one or more of our brands has in the past resulted in and could continue to result in negative publicity, litigation or reduced consumer demand for our products, adversely affecting our financial performance. Many jurisdictions in which our products are sold have imposed or are considering imposing regulations or policies intended to encourage the use of sustainable packaging, waste reduction or increased recycling rates or to restrict the sale of products utilizing certain packaging. These regulations vary in form and scope and include extended producer responsibility policies, plastic or packaging taxes, to incentivize behavior, restrictions on certain products and materials, requirements for bottle caps to be tethered to bottles, bans on the use of single-use plastics extended producer responsibility policies and requirements to charge deposit fees. For example, the European Union, hasPeru and certain states in the United States, among other jurisdictions, have imposed a minimum recycled content requirement for beverage bottlesbottle packaging and similar legislation is under consideration in several states in the United States.other jurisdictions. These laws and regulations have in the past and could continue to increase the cost of our products, impact demand for our products, result in negative publicity and require us and our business partners, including our independent bottlers, to increase our capital expenditures to invest in minimizing the amount of plastic or other materials used in our packaging or to develop alternative packaging, all of which can adversely affect our business and financial performance.

We are subject to a variety of continuously evolving and developing laws and regulations in numerous jurisdictions regarding personal data protection and privacy laws. These laws and regulations may be interpreted and applied differently from country to country or, within the United States, from state to state, and can create inconsistent or conflicting requirements. Our efforts to comply with these laws and

regulations, including with respect to data from residents of the European Union who are covered by the General Data Protection Regulation or residents of the state of California who are covered by the California Consumer Privacy Act (as modified by the California Privacy Rights Act), impose significant costs and challenges that are likely to continue to increase over time.time, particularly as additional jurisdictions adopt similar regulations. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations canor to otherwise protect personal data from unauthorized access, use or other processing, have in the past and could in the future result in litigation, claims, legal or regulatory proceedings, inquiries or investigations, or damage to our reputation, fines or penalties, all of which can adversely affect our business.

We possess intellectual property rights that are important to our business, including ingredient formulas, trademarks, copyrights, patents, business processes and other trade secrets. The laws of various jurisdictions in which we operate have differing levels of protection of intellectual property. Our competitive position and the value of our products and brands can be reduced and our business adversely affected if we fail to obtain or adequately protect our intellectual property, including our ingredient formulas, or if there is a change in law that limits or removes the current legal protections afforded our intellectual property. Also, if, in the course of developing new products or improving the quality of existing products, we are foundhave in the past infringed or been alleged to have infringed, and could in the future infringe or be alleged to infringe, on the intellectual property rights of others, directlyothers. Such infringement or indirectly, such finding canallegations of infringement could result in expensive litigation and damages, damage to our reputation, and limitdisruption to our operations, injunctions against development, manufacturing, use and/or sale of certain products, inventory write-offs or other limitations on our ability to introduce new products or improve the quality of existing products, resulting in an adverse effect on our business.

The conduct of our business is subject to numerous laws and regulations relating to the production, storage, distribution, sale, display, advertising, marketing, labeling, content (including whether a product

contains genetically engineered ingredients), quality, safety, transportation, traceability, sourcing (including pesticide use), packaging, disposal, recycling and use of our products or raw materials, employment and occupational health and safety, environmental, social and governance matters (including pesticide use)climate change) and data privacy and protection. In addition, in many jurisdictions, compliance with competition laws is of special importance to us due to our competitive position, as is compliance with anti-corruption laws. The imposition of new laws, changes in laws or regulatory requirements or changing interpretations thereof, and differing or competing regulations and standards across the markets where our products or raw materials are made, manufactured, distributed or sold, have in the past and could continue to result in higher compliance costs, capital expenditures and higher production costs, resulting in adverse effects on our business. For example, increasing governmental and societal attention to environmental, social and governance matters has resulted and could continue to result in new laws or regulatory requirements. In addition, ifthe entry into new markets or categories, including our planned entry into the alcoholic beverage industry as a distributor in the United States and expansion into the nuts and meat convenient foods categories globally, has resulted in and could continue to result in our business being subject to additional regulations resulting in higher compliance costs. If one jurisdiction imposes or proposes to impose new laws or regulations that impact the manufacture, distribution or sale of our products, other jurisdictions can oftenmay follow. Failure to comply with such laws or regulations can subject us to criminal or civil enforcement actions, including fines, injunctions, product recalls, penalties, disgorgement of profits or activity restrictions, all of which can adversely affect our business.

We and our subsidiaries are party to a variety of litigation, claims, legal or regulatory proceedings, inquiries and investigations, including but not limited to matters related to our advertising, marketing or commercial practices, product labels, claims and ingredients, personal injury and property damage, intellectual property rights, environmental, privacy, employment, tax and insurance matters, environmental, social and governance matters and matters relating to our compliance with applicable laws and regulations. These matters are inherently uncertain and there is no guarantee that we will be successful in defending ourselves or that our assessment of the materiality of these matters and the likely outcome or potential losses and established reserves will be consistent with the ultimate outcome of such matters. Responding to these matters, even those that are ultimately non-meritorious, requires us to incur significant expense and devote significant resources, and may generate adverse publicity that damages our reputation or brand image. Any of the foregoing can adversely affect our business.

We have received no written comments regarding our periodic or current reports from the staff of the SEC that were issued 180 days or more preceding the end of our 20202021 year and that remain unresolved.

Our principal executive office located in Purchase, New York and our facilities located in Plano, Texas, all of which we own, are our most significant corporate properties.

In connection with making, marketing, distributing and selling our products, each division utilizes manufacturing, processing, bottling and production plants, warehouses, distribution centers, storage facilities, offices, including division headquarters, research and development facilities and other facilities, all of which are either owned or leased.

Significant properties by division are as follows:

Most of our plants are owned or leased on a long-term basis. In addition to company-owned or leased properties described above, we also utilize a highly distributed network of plants, warehouses and distribution centers that are owned or leased by our contract manufacturers, co-packers, strategic alliances or joint ventures in which we have an equity interest. We believe that our properties generally are in good operating condition and, taken as a whole, are suitable, adequate and of sufficient capacity for our current operations.

The following is a list of names, ages and backgrounds of our current executive officers:

President, Operations from 2006 to 2007, and Senior Vice President, Transformation from 2005 to 2006. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of PepsiCo Beverages and Foods from 2002 through 2005, and as PepsiCo’s Senior Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions in 2002. Mr. Johnston joined PepsiCo in 1987 as a Business Planner and held various finance positions until 1999 when he left to join Merck & Co., Inc. as Vice President, Retail, a position which he held until he rejoined PepsiCo in 2002. Prior to joining PepsiCo in 1987, Mr. Johnston was with General Electric Company in a variety of finance positions.

Stock Trading Symbol – PEPPEP.

Stock Exchange Listings – The Nasdaq Global Select Market is the principal market for our common stock, which is also listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Shareholders – As of February 4, 2021,3, 2022, there were approximately 105,807101,778 shareholders of record of our common stock.

Dividends – We have paid consecutive quarterly cash dividends since 1965. The declaration and payment of future dividends are at the discretion of the Board of Directors. Dividends are usually declared in February, May, July and November and paid at the end of March, June and September and the beginning of January. On February 4, 2021,2, 2022, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $1.0225$1.075 per share payable March 31, 2021,2022, to shareholders of record on March 5, 2021.4, 2022. For the remainder of 2021,2022, the record dates for these dividend payments are expected to be June 4,3, September 32 and December 3, 2021,2, 2022, subject to approval of the Board of Directors. On February 11, 2021,10, 2022, we announced a 5%7% increase in our annualized dividend to $4.30$4.60 per share from $4.09$4.30 per share, effective with the dividend expected to be paid in June 2021.2022.

For information on securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans, see “Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.”

PepsiCo is a leading global foodbeverage and beverageconvenient food company with a complementary portfolio of brands, including Frito-Lay,Lays, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker and Tropicana.SodaStream. Through our operations, authorized bottlers, contract manufacturers and other third parties, we make, market, distribute and sell a wide variety of beverages and convenient beverages, foods, and snacks, serving customers and consumers in more than 200 countries and territoriesterritories.

Everything we do is driven by an approach we call WinningAs a global company with Purpose. Winning with Purpose is our guide for achieving accelerated, sustainable growth that includes our mission, to Create More Smiles with Every Sip and Every Bite; our vision, to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose; and The PepsiCo Way, seven behaviors that define our shared culture.

To meet this oncethe challenges of today – and those of tomorrow – we are driven by an approach called PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is a strategic end-to-end transformation of our business, with sustainability at the center of how the company will strive to create growth and value by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for the planet and people. pep+ will guide how we will work to transform our business operations, from sourcing ingredients and making and selling products in a generation momentmore sustainable way, to leveraging our more than one billion connections with consumers each day to take sustainability mainstream and ensure our Company’s long-term success, we will continueengage people to focus on becoming Faster, Stronger,make choices that are better for themselves and Better:the planet.

We believe these priorities will position our Company for long-term sustainable growth.

See also “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for further information about risks and uncertainties that the Company faces.

See “Item 1. Business” for information on our divisions and a description of our distribution network, ingredients and other supplies, brands and intellectual property rights, seasonality, customers, competition and human capital. In addition, see Note 1 to our consolidated financial statements for financial information about our divisions and geographic areas.

Certain members of our Board of Directors also serve on the boards of certain vendors and customers. These Board members do not participate in our vendor selection and negotiations nor in our customer negotiations. Our transactions with these vendors and customers are in the normal course of business and are consistent with terms negotiated with other vendors and customers. In addition, certain of our employees serve on the boards of Pepsi Bottling Ventures LLC and other affiliated companies of PepsiCo and do not receive incremental compensation for such services.

The CARES Act was enacted on March 27, 2020Many of the commodities used in the United States.production and transportation of our products are purchased in the open market. The CARES Actprices we pay for such items are subject to fluctuation, and related notices include several significant provisions, such as delaying certain payroll tax payments, mandatory transition tax payments underwe manage this risk through the Tax Cutsuse of fixed-price contracts and Jobs Act (TCJ Act)purchase orders, pricing agreements and estimated income tax payments. The CARES Act did notderivative instruments, including swaps and futures. During 2021, we experienced higher than anticipated transportation and commodity costs, which we expect to continue in 2022. A number of external factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, adverse weather conditions, supply chain disruptions (including raw material shortages) and labor shortages, have a material impact on our financial results in 2020, including on our annual estimated effective tax rate or on our liquidity. We willimpacted and may continue to monitorimpact transportation and assess the impact similar legislation in other countriescommodity availability and costs. When prices increase, we may haveor may not pass on such increases to our businesscustomers without suffering reduced volume, revenue, margins and financialoperating results.

We are subject to risks in the normal course of business.business that are inherent to international operations. During the periods presented in this report, certain jurisdictions in which our products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold, including in certain developing and emerging markets, operated in a challenging environment, experiencing unstable economic, political and social conditions, civil unrest, natural disasters, debt and credit issues and currency controls or fluctuations. We continue to monitor the economic, operating and political environment in these markets closely and to identify actions to potentially mitigate any unfavorable impacts on our future results.

Certain jurisdictions in which our products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold have either imposed, or are considering imposing, new or increased taxes or regulations on the manufacture, distribution or sale of our products or their packaging, ingredients or substances contained in, or attributes of, our products or their packaging, commodities used in the production of our products or their packaging or the recyclability or recoverability of our packaging. These taxes and regulations vary in scope and form. For example, some taxes apply to all beverages, including non-caloric beverages, while others apply only to beverages with a caloric sweetener (e.g., sugar). In addition, COVID-19 has resulted in increased regulatory focus on labeling in certain jurisdictions, including in Mexico which enacted product labeling requirements and limitations on the marketing of certain of our products as a result of ingredients or substances contained in such products. Further, some regulations apply to all products using certain types of packaging (e.g., plastic), while others are designed to increase the sustainability of packaging,

encourage waste reduction and increased recycling rates or facilitate the waste management process or restrict the sale of products in certain packaging.

We sell a wide variety of beverages foods and snacksconvenient foods in more than 200 countries and territories and the profile of the products we sell, the amount of revenue attributable to such products and the type of packaging used vary by jurisdiction. Because of this, we cannot predict the scope or form potential taxes, regulations or other limitations on our products or their packaging may take, and therefore cannot predict the impact of such taxes, regulations or limitations on our financial results. In addition, taxes, regulations and limitations may impact us and our competitors differently. We continue to monitor existing and proposed taxes and regulations in the jurisdictions in which our products are made, manufactured, distributed and sold and to consider actions we may take to potentially mitigate the unfavorable impact, if any, of such taxes, regulations or limitations, including advocating alternative measures with respect to the imposition, form and scope of any such taxes, regulations or limitations.

Our industry continues to be affected by disruption of the retail landscape, including the rapid growth in sales through e-commerce websites and mobile commerce applications, including through subscription services, the integration of physical and digital operations among retailers and the international expansion of hard discounters. We have seen and expect to continue to see a further shift to e-commerce, online-to-offline and other online purchasing by consumers, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to monitor changes in the retail landscape and seek to identify actions we may take to build our global e-commerce and digital capabilities, such as expanding our direct-to-consumer business, and distribute our products effectively through all existing and emerging channels of trade and potentially mitigate any unfavorable impacts on our future results.

See also “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” “Executive Overview” above and “Market Risks” below for more information about these risks and the actions we have taken to address key challenges.

The achievement of our strategic and operating objectives involves taking risks and that those risks may evolve over time. To identify, assess, prioritize, address, manage, monitor and communicate these risks across the Company’s operations, we leverage an integrated risk management framework. This framework includes the following:

We are exposed to market risks arising from adverse changes in:

In the normal course of business, we manage commodity price, foreign exchange and interest rate risks through a variety of strategies, including productivity initiatives, global purchasing programs and hedging. Ongoing productivity initiatives involve the identification and effective implementation of meaningful cost-saving opportunities or efficiencies, including the use of derivatives. Our global purchasing programs include fixed-price contracts and purchase orders and pricing agreements. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for further discussion of our market risks, and see “Our Liquidity and Capital Resources” for further information on our non-cancelable purchasing commitments.risks.

The fair value of our derivatives fluctuates based on market rates and prices. The sensitivity of our derivatives to these market fluctuations is discussed below. See Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements for further discussion of these derivatives and our hedging policies. See “Our Critical Accounting Policies”Policies and Estimates” for a discussion of the exposure of our pension and retiree medical plan assets and liabilities to risks related to market fluctuations.

Inflationary, deflationary and recessionary conditions impacting these market risks also impact the demand for and pricing of our products. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for further discussion.

Our operations outside of the United States generated 42%44% of our consolidated net revenue in 2020,2021, with Mexico, Russia, Canada, China, the United Kingdom China and South Africa, collectively, comprising approximately 21%23% of our consolidated net revenue in 2020.2021. As a result, we are exposed to foreign exchange risks in the international markets in which our products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold. Additionally, we are exposed to foreign exchange risk from net investments in foreign subsidiaries, foreign currency purchases, foreign currency assets and liabilities created in the normal course of business. During 2020, unfavorable2021, favorable foreign exchange reducedcontributed 1 percentage point to net revenue growth, by 2 percentage points, primarily due to declinesappreciation in the Mexican peso, Russian rubleCanadian dollar and Brazilian real.South African rand. Currency declines against the U.S. dollar which are not offset could adversely impact our future financial results.

In addition, volatile economic, political and social conditions and civil unrest in certain markets in which our products are made, manufactured, distributed or sold, including in Argentina, Brazil, China, Mexico, the Middle East, Russia and Turkey, and currency controls or fluctuations in certain of these international markets, continue to, and the threat or imposition of new or increased tariffs or sanctions or other impositions in or related to these international markets may, result in challenging operating environments. We also continue to monitor the economic and political developments related to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (Brexit), including the effects of the post-Brexit trade deal entered into between the United Kingdom and the European Union in December 2020, as well as the economic, operating and political environment in Russia and the potential impact for the Europe segment and our other businesses.

Our foreign currency derivatives had a total notional value of $2.8 billion as of December 25, 2021 and $1.9 billion as of December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019.2020. At the end of 2020,2021, we estimate that an unfavorable 10% change in the underlying exchange rates would have increaseddecreased our net unrealized lossesgains in 20202021 by $175$278 million, which would be significantly offset by an inverse change in the fair value of the underlying exposure.

The total notional amount of our debt instruments designated as net investment hedges was $2.1 billion as of December 25, 2021 and $2.7 billion as of December 26, 2020 and $2.5 billion as of December 28, 2019.2020.

Physical or unit volume is one of the key metrics management uses internally to make operating and strategic decisions, including the preparation of our annual operating plan and the evaluation of our business performance. We believe volume provides additional information to facilitate the comparison of

Beverage volume includes volume of concentrate sold to independent bottlers and volume of finished products bearing company-owned or licensed trademarks and allied brand products and joint venture trademarks sold by company-owned bottling operations, includingoperations. Beverage volume also includes volume of finished products bearing company-owned or licensed trademarks sold by our noncontrolled affiliates. Concentrate volume sold to independent bottlers is reported in concentrate shipments and equivalents (CSE), whereas finished beverage product volume is reported in bottler case sales (BCS). Both CSE and BCS convert all beverage volume to an 8-ounce-case metric. Typically, CSE and BCS are not equal in any given period due to seasonality, timing of product launches, product mix, bottler inventory practices and other factors. While our net revenue is not entirely based on BCS volume due to the independent bottlers in our supply chain, we believe that BCS is a better measure of the consumption of our beverage products. PBNA, LatAm, Europe, AMESA and APAC, either independently or in conjunction with third parties, make, market, distribute and sell ready-to-drink tea products through a joint venture with Unilever (under the Lipton brand name), and PBNA, either independently or in conjunction with third parties, makes, markets, distributes and sells ready-to-drink coffee products through a joint venture with Starbucks. In addition, APAC licenses the Tropicana brand for use in China on co-branded juice products in connection with a strategic alliance with Tingyi.

Food and snackConvenient food volume includes volume sold by our subsidiaries and noncontrolled affiliates of snackconvenient food products bearing company-owned or licensed trademarks. Internationally, we measure convenient food and snack product volume in kilograms, while in North America we measure convenient food and snack product volume in pounds. FLNA makes, markets, distributes and sells Sabra refrigerated dips and spreads through a joint venture with Strauss Group.

See “Results of Operations – Division Review” for a tabular presentation and discussion of key drivers of net revenue.

See “Our Business Risks,” “Non-GAAP Measures” and “Items Affecting Comparability” for a discussion of items to consider when evaluating our results and related information regarding measures not in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

In the discussions of net revenue and operating profit below, “effective net pricing” reflects the year-over-year impact of discrete pricing actions, sales incentive activities and mix resulting from selling varying products in different package sizes and in different countries and “net pricing” reflects the year-over-year combined impact of list price changes, weight changes per package, discounts and allowances. Additionally, “acquisitions and divestitures” reflect all mergers and acquisitions activity, including the impact of acquisitions,as well as divestitures and other structural changes, including changes in ownership or control in consolidated subsidiaries and nonconsolidated equity investees.

Organic revenue growth is a non-GAAP financial measure. For further information on this measure, see “Non-GAAP Measures.”

Operating profit adjusted for items affecting comparability and operating profit growth adjusted for items affecting comparability on a constant currency basis are both non-GAAP financial measures. For further information on these measures see “Non-GAAP Measures” and “Items Affecting Comparability.”

Operating profit increased 2%5.5%, primarily reflecting the net revenue growth, and productivity savings and a 3-percentage-point impact of lower charges taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These impacts were partially offset by certain operating cost increases. Additionally,increases, including strategic initiatives and incremental transportation costs, and a 4-percentage-point impact of higher commodity costs, primarily packaging material and cooking oil.

Net revenue grew slightly and unit volume declined 7%. The net revenue growth reflects effective net pricing and a 1-percentage-point impact of favorable foreign exchange, largely offset by a decrease in organic volume. The unit volume decline was primarily driven by double-digit declines in pancake syrups and mixes and in ready-to-eat cereals and a high-single-digit decline in oatmeal, partially offset by growth in Cheetos macaroni and cheese, which was introduced in the third quarter of 2020, and double-digit growth in lite snacks.

Operating profit increased 26%, primarily reflecting the net revenue growth, a 15-percentage-point impact of lower charges taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic reduced operating profit growth by 4 percentage points.

Changes in oatmeal and pancake syrup and mix and high-single-digit growth in ready-to-eat cereals. Theconsumer behavior as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic drove ancontributed to a current-year increase in consumer demand, which had a positive impact on both net revenue, and unit volume growth.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, we received a notice of termination without cause from Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which would end our distribution rights of Bang Energy drinks, effective October 24, 2023.

Net revenue decreased 8%increased 17%, primarily reflecting an 11-percentage-point impact of unfavorable foreign exchange, partially offset by effective net pricing.pricing and organic volume growth.

SnacksConvenient foods unit volume grew slightly,3.5%, primarily reflecting low-single-digit growth in Brazil partially offset by a slight decline inand Mexico.

Beverage unit volume declined 1%grew 8%, primarily reflecting a high-single-digit decline in Argentina, a mid-single-digit decline in Honduras and a low-single-digit decline in Guatemala, partially offset by double-digit growth in Argentina and Chile. Additionally, Brazil experienced low-single-digit growth, in Mexico andexperienced mid-single-digit growth in Chile. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a decrease in consumer demand, which had a negative impact on beverage unit volume performance.and Guatemala experienced high-single-digit growth.

Operating profit decreased 10%increased 33%, primarily reflecting certain operating cost increasesthe net revenue growth, productivity savings and a 9-percentage-point4.5-percentage-point impact of higher commodity costs due to transaction-relatedfavorable foreign exchange. These impacts were partially offset by productivity savingscertain operating cost increases, a 30-percentage-point impact of higher commodity costs and the effective net pricing. Additionally, unfavorable foreign exchangehigher advertising and marketing expenses. A current-year recognition of certain indirect tax credits in Brazil and lower charges taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted operating profit performance by 11contributed 6 percentage points and 84 percentage points, respectively.respectively, to operating profit growth.

Net revenue increased 2%9%, primarily reflecting organic volume growth partially offset by a 4-percentage-point impact of unfavorable foreign exchange.and effective net pricing.

SnacksConvenient foods unit volume grew 4%, primarily reflecting double-digit growth in Turkey high-single-digitand mid-single-digit growth in Russia and Poland, partially offset by a mid-single-digit decline in the United Kingdom. Additionally, the Netherlands grew slightly and France experienced low-single-digit growth.

Beverage unit volume grew 8%, primarily reflecting double-digit growth in Russia, Turkey and the United Kingdom and France and mid-single-digithigh-single-digit growth in the Netherlands,France, partially offset by a low-single-digit decline in Spain.Germany.

Operating profit decreased 4.5%, primarily reflecting certain operating cost increases, a 28-percentage-point impact of higher commodity costs and a 2.5-percentage-point impact each from higher restructuring and impairment charges and a gain on an asset sale in the prior year. These impacts were partially offset by the net revenue growth and productivity savings. Additionally, Russialower charges taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and Poland each experiencedfavorable settlements of promotional spending accruals compared to the prior

Convenient foods unit volume grew 38%, primarily reflecting a 35-percentage-point impact of our Pioneer Foods acquisition, which included the impact of an extra month of unit volume as we aligned Pioneer Foods’ reporting calendar with that of our AMESA division, double-digit growth in India and Pakistan and high-single-digit growth in the Middle East, partially offset by a low-single-digit growth.decline in South Africa (excluding our Pioneer Foods acquisition).

Beverage unit volume grew 11%20%, primarily reflecting double-digit growth in GermanyIndia and France, partially offset by a mid-single-digit decline in Poland and a low-single-digit decline in Turkey.Pakistan. Additionally, Russiathe Middle East experienced low-single-digitdouble-digit growth and the United KingdomNigeria experienced mid-single-digithigh-single-digit growth.

Operating profit increased 2%43%, primarily reflecting the organic volumenet revenue growth, productivity savings, a 4-percentage-point impact of lower restructuring and impairment charges, a 3-percentage-point31-percentage-point impact of the prior-year inventory fair value adjustmentsacquisition and merger and integrationdivestiture-related charges primarily associated with our Pioneer Foods acquisition of SodaStream International Ltd. (SodaStream) and a 2-percentage-point impact of a gain on an asset sale.productivity savings. These impacts were partially offset by certain operating cost increases, and a 2-percentage-point13-percentage-point impact of higher commodity costs due to transaction-related foreign exchange.and higher advertising and marketing expenses. Additionally, thelower charges taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and unfavorable foreign exchange reduced operating profit growth by 6 percentage points and 4 percentage points, respectively.

Changes in consumer behavior as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impactedcontributed to a current-year increase in consumer demand, which had a positive impact on net revenue, unit volume and operating profit performance by 5 percentage points.performance.

Net revenue increased 18%34%, primarily reflecting a 10-percentage-point15-percentage-point impact of our Be & Cheery acquisition, which included the impact of an extra month of net revenue compared to the prior year as we aligned Be & Cheery’s reporting calendar with that of our APAC division, as well as organic volume growth, a 6- percentage-point impact of favorable foreign exchange and effective net pricing.

SnacksConvenient foods unit volume grew 17%19%, primarily reflecting a 10-percentage-point16-percentage-point impact of our Be & Cheery acquisition, which included the impact of an extra month of unit volume as we aligned Be & Cheery’s reporting calendar with that of our APAC division, and double-digit growth in Indonesia, partially offset by a low-single-digit decline in Thailand. Additionally, China (excluding our Be & Cheery acquisition) and Thailand. Additionally, Australia, Indonesia and Taiwan each experienced mid-single-digit growth and Taiwan experienced low-single-digit growth.

Beverage unit volume grew 1%13%, primarily reflecting high-single-digitdouble-digit growth in China, partially offset by a double-digit decline in the Philippines, a mid-single-digit decline in Vietnam and a low-single-digit decline in Thailand. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a decrease in consumer demand, which had a negative impact on beverage unit volumeVietnam. Additionally, the Philippines experienced low-single-digit growth and Thailand experienced mid-single-digit growth.

Operating profit increased 24%14%, primarily reflecting the net revenue growth, productivity savings and a 10-percentage-point impact of lower restructuring and impairment charges,2- percentage-point contribution from our Be & Cheery acquisition, partially offset by certain operating cost increases and higher advertising and marketing expenses. Additionally, impairment charges associated with an equity method investment reduced operating profit growth by 3 percentage points. Favorable foreign exchange contributed 3 percentage points to operating profit growth.

Other pension and retiree medical benefits income increased $161$405 million, primarily reflecting lower settlement charges in 2021, the recognition of fixed income gains on plan assets, the impact of plan changes approved in 2020, as discussed in Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements, and the impact of discretionary plan contributions, and higher prior-year settlement losses, partially offset by thea decrease in discount rates.the expected rate of return on plan assets.

Net interest expense and other increased $193$735 million, primarily duereflecting a charge of $842 million in connection with our cash tender offers. See Note 8 to higher average debt balances, lower interest rates on cash, as well as lower gains on the market value of investments used to economically hedge a portion of our deferred compensation liability. These impacts wereconsolidated financial statements for further information. This impact was partially offset by lower interest rates on debt and higher average cashdebt balances.

Certain financial measures contained in this Form 10-K adjust for the impact of specified items and are not in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We use non-GAAP financial measures internally to make operating and strategic decisions, including the preparation of our annual operating plan, evaluation of our overall business performance and as a factor in determining compensation for certain employees. We believe presenting non-GAAP financial measures in this Form 10-K provides additional information to facilitate comparison of our historical operating results and trends in our underlying operating results and provides additional transparency on how we evaluate our business. We also believe presenting these measures in this Form 10-K allows investors to view our performance using the same measures that we use in evaluating our financial and business performance and trends.

We consider quantitative and qualitative factors in assessing whether to adjust for the impact of items that may be significant or that could affect an understanding of our ongoing financial and business performance or trends. Examples of items for which we may make adjustments include: amounts related to mark-to-market gains or losses (non-cash); charges related to restructuring plans; amountscosts associated with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and other structural changes; gains associated with divestitures; pension and retiree medical related items;medical-related amounts (including all settlement and curtailment gains and losses); charges or

adjustments related to the enactment of new laws, rules or regulations, such as significant tax law changes; amounts related to the resolution of tax positions; tax benefits related to reorganizations of our operations; debt redemptions, cash tender or exchange offers; asset impairments (non-cash); and remeasurements of net monetary assets. Previously, certain immaterial pension and retiree medical-related settlement and curtailment gains and losses were not considered items affecting comparability. Pension and retiree medical-related service cost, interest cost, expected return on plan assets, and other net periodic pension costs will continue to be reflected in our core results. See below and “Items Affecting Comparability” for a description of adjustments to our U.S. GAAP financial measures in this Form 10-K. 

Non-GAAP information should be considered as supplemental in nature and is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, our non-GAAP financial measures may not be the same as or comparable to similar non-GAAP measures presented by other companies.

We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities less capital spending, plus sales of property, plant and equipment. Since net capital spending is essential to our product innovation initiatives and maintaining our operational capabilities, we believe that it is a recurring and necessary use of cash. As such, we believe investors should also consider net capital spending when evaluating our cash from operating activities. Free cash flow is used by us primarily for acquisitions and financing activities, including debt repayments, dividends and share repurchases. Free cash flow is not a measure of cash available for discretionary expenditures since we have certain non-discretionary obligations such as debt service that are not deducted from the measure.

See “Free Cash Flow” in “Our Liquidity and Capital Resources” for further information.

We define ROIC as net income attributable to PepsiCo plus interest expense after-tax divided by the sum of quarterly average debt obligations and quarterly average common shareholders’ equity. Although ROIC is a common financial metric, numerous methods exist for calculating ROIC. Accordingly, the method used by management to calculate ROIC may differ from the methods other companies use to calculate their ROIC.

We believe this metric serves as a measure of how well we use our capital to generate returns. In addition, we use net ROIC, excluding items affecting comparability, to compare our performance over various reporting periods on a consistent basis because it removes from our operating results the impact of items that we believe are not indicative of our ongoing performance and reflects how management evaluates our operating results and trends. We define net ROIC, excluding items affecting comparability, as ROIC, adjusted for quarterly average cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, after-tax interest income and items affecting comparability. We believe the calculation of ROIC and net ROIC, excluding items affecting comparability, provides useful information to investors and is an additional relevant comparison of our performance to consider when evaluating our capital allocation efficiency.

See “Return on Invested Capital” in “Our Liquidity and Capital Resources” for further information.