Pepsi used to be America’s third-best-selling soda, but it was edged out by Sprite and recently fell to #4 in 2024.
This isn’t great news for PepsiCo, which has already closed a handful of facilities and laid off hundreds of employees since last year.
And just days ago, PepsiCo announced yet another planned closure, which will be effective this September.
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
After a string of recent PepsiCo closures and layoffs, another one is in the crosshairs, effective September 27th, 2025.
PepsiCo recently announced that it’ll cease certain operations at one of its plants in Detroit, Michigan, come this fall.
Pepsi released a statement, saying, “PepsiCo Beverages U.S. recently announced the shutdown of manufacturing, transport and maintenance operations at our Detroit site. Our warehouse, fleet, delivery, sales and field service teams will continue to operate at this location.”
Shutterstock
So the Detroit location won’t be closed completely, but it will impact 84 employees, including 51 operations technicians.
Pepsi goes on to say, “We are committed to supporting those impacted through this transition, and we are offering pay and benefits to impacted employees.”
The closure of a PepsiCo facility isn’t really breaking news these days. Let’s take a look at several of its factory closures over the past couple of years.
Shutterstock
Just after Christmas in 2024, 136 employees at one of its plants in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Like the Detroit location, Pepsi didn’t close the facility entirely. Instead, it’s reducing operations, saying, “We are optimizing our manufacturing network, and as a result, we have stopped production at our Cincinnati facility. We will continue operating a scaled warehouse at this location.”
Shutterstock
Also in December 2024, 127 production, warehouse, and transport employees were laid off at a Pepsi plant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The employees were given 60 days’ advance notice per the state’s WARN Act. (WARN notices are enforced federally, but certain states have their own versions in addition to federal laws.)
Shutterstock
A smaller closure compared to others, 50 employees were impacted by the closure of a bottling plant in Atlanta. Details on the Atlanta closure are hard to come by, unlike some of the other closures.
Shutterstock
PepsiCo makes more than Pepsi products. It also owns several snack brands, such as PopCorners.
In May 2025, PepsiCo laid off 287 employees at its PopCorners plant in Liberty, saying that “the pace of growth for this product line paired with broader industry pace of growth has made it difficult to sustain the site’s long-term viability.”
Shutterstock
PepsiCo also owns Frito-Lay, a beloved brand of chips like Doritos, Cheetos, Fritos, and Lay’s.
Earlier this year, PepsiCo announced its plan to cease some operations at its Frito-Lay plant in Rancho Cucamonga. Before the layoffs, the site was home to over 480 PepsiCo employees.
A PepsiCo statement confirmed the ”shutdown of manufacturing operations” at Frito-Lay’s Rancho Cucamonga site, but the warehouse, distribution, fleet, and transportation teams will continue to operate at the location.
Follow The Coconut Mama
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
Shutterstock
Consumer trends are impacting PepsiCo’s earnings. During the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, Pepsi reported a 2% drop in its North American beverages division.
Other troubling signs point to the stock market. PepsiCo’s stock has fallen more than 16% over the past year, which sparks concerns among investors over long-term growth.
PepsiCo’s earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter ending March 31, 2025, were $1.33. This points to a 10.14% decline year-over-year, compared to a 5.95% EPS increase from 2023-2024.
Shutterstock
Trump’s tariffs aren’t breaking news by this point in the year, but they directly impact the costs for PepsiCo. A 25% tariff on aluminum raises the cost of cans for PepsiCo products significantly.
While inflation is slowly improving, the US is still above the sweet spot for inflation, which is considered to be around 2%. This raises the cost of business and trickles down to higher costs for the consumers, who are spending less due to economic uncertainty and overall increasing costs (housing, food, and everything in between).
Shutterstock
During the COVID pandemic, the supply disruption impacted businesses worldwide. As a result, PepsiCo raised its prices through the pandemic.
Robert Moskow, analyst for TD Cowen, an investment banking company, said that prices for PepsiCo’s snacks, carbonated beverages, and sports drinks (like Gatorade) were up 41% since 2020. He compares this to the “grocery-store average” of 25%, and indicates that Pepsi might have raised its prices too much, which could continue to create problems.
Shutterstock
Raising prices, tariffs, and layoffs…oh, my!
History is full of financial and economic ups and downs, but it doesn’t make it any less scary for workers losing their jobs.
Do you think PepsiCo will continue to suffer from its price hikes and increasing costs? Share your predictions in the comments!
Shutterstock
Leave a Comment