PepsiCo Americas Foods (PAF) is PepsiCo's food and snack business in North and South America. Its portfolio of businesses includes Frito-Lay North America, Quaker Foods & Snacks, Sabritas, Gamesa and Latin America Foods.

Frito-Lay North America

In 1932, C.E. Doolin entered a small San Antonio cafe and purchased a bag of corn chips. Little did he dream this savory chip would become one of the nation's most popular snacks. Mr. Doolin learned that the manufacturer of the chips was eager to sell his small business, so he purchased the recipe, and began to sell FRITOS® Corn Chips from his Model T Ford.

Meanwhile, that same year, Herman W. Lay began his potato chip business in Nashville by delivering snack foods. Not long after, Mr. Lay purchased the manufacturer, and the H.W. Lay & Company was formed. H.W. Lay & Company became one of the largest snack food companies in the Southeast, and LAY'S® brand Potato Chips is still America's favorite potato chip.

Years later, in 1961, the Frito Company and the H.W. Lay company merged to become Frito-Lay, Inc. Today, Frito-Lay North America makes some of the most popular snacks in the US, including LAY'S® and RUFFLES® potato chips, DORITOS® tortilla chips, TOSTITOS® tortilla chips and dips, CHEETOS® cheese flavored snacks, FRITOS® corn chips, ROLD GOLD® pretzels, SUNCHIPS® multigrain snacks, CRACKER JACK® candy coated popcorn.

Quaker Foods North America

The Quaker Oats Company was formed in 1901 when several American pioneers in oat milling came together to incorporate. In Ravenna, Ohio, Henry D. Seymour and William Heston had established the Quaker Mill Company. The figure of a man in Quaker clothes became the first registered trademark for breakfast cereal and remains the hallmark for Quaker Oats today.

In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, John Stuart and his son, Robert, and their partner, George Douglas, operated the largest cereal mill of the time. Ferdinand Schumacher, known as "The Oatmeal King," had founded German Mills American Oatmeal Company in 1856.

Combining The Quaker Mill Company with the Stuart and Schumacher businesses brought together the top oats milling expertise in the country as The Quaker Oats Company.

The first major acquisition of the company was Aunt Jemima Mills Company in 1926, which is today the leading manufacturer of pancake mixes and syrup. Gatorade was acquired in 1983.

In 1986, The Quaker Oats Company acquired the Golden Grain Company, producers of Rice-A-Roni. Its brands today include Quaker oatmeal, Life and Cap'n Crunch ready-to-eat cereals, Aunt Jemima mixes and syrups, and Rice-A-Roni, Pasta Roni and Near East side dishes. PepsiCo merged with The Quaker Oats Company in 2001.

Sabritas

Headquartered in Mexico City, Sabritas is a leader in the Mexican snack and fun food market. Founded in 1943, Sabritas is renowned for the quality, variety and flavors of its products, and serves as the umbrella brand under which PepsiCo markets Frito-Lay products in Mexico, such as Cheetos, Fritos, Doritos and Ruffles. It is also the name brand for its own line of potato chips. Additionally, the business manufactures and markets several local brands such as Crujitos, Poffets, Rancheritos and Sabritones. Sabritas controls around 80% of the Mexican snacks market. PepsiCo acquired Sabritas in 1966.

Gamesa

Headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, Gamesa is a global leader in the cookies market, and Mexico's largest manufacturer of cookies. The company has offered its consumers a wide variety of high-quality products for every lifestyle, producing pastries, oats, cereals and other related products. It has production facilities in five states across Mexico. Among its most successful brands are Marías Gamesa, Emperador, Arcoiris, Mamut, Chokis, and Maizoro. In 1990, it was acquired by PepsiCo.

Latin Americas Foods

The Latin Americas Foods business includes operations in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. Its portfolio of brands includes global snacks such as Lay's, Cheetos, Fritos and Doritos, as well as local brands like Lucky snacks in Brazil.