Carlsberg has lined up another expansion of its licensing arrangement with PepsiCo, adding a further five markets to the pair’s existing tie-up.
The Copenhagen-headquartered group said today that a deal has been reached with PepsiCo to handle the production, sale and distribution of the latter’s soft drinks portfolio in Denmark and Finland, as well as the three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The move, scheduled for implementation at the start of 2029, brings to an end PepsiCo’s previous set-up for the markets with Royal Unibrew.
The company, also based in Denmark, expressed its disappointment at the change, stating it “would have welcomed the opportunity to continue the partnership; however, it has not been possible to reach an agreement”.
In today’s announcement, Carlsberg said that its “bottling agreements” with The Coca-Cola Co for both Denmark and Finland will conclude on expiry at the end of 2028. The group will subsequently be responsible for PepsiCo’s beverage presence in 14 markets, primarily in Europe (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) but also including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia and Laos.
“We’re very pleased that we’ll become the sole PepsiCo bottler in the Nordics and the Baltics,” said Carlsberg’s CEO, Jacob Aarup-Andersen. “This is an exciting move, solidifying our longstanding strategic partnership with PepsiCo.
“The growth prospects and value creation opportunities from a business model which combines the Carlsberg and PepsiCo beverage portfolios are truly significant.”
Over at Royal Unibrew, CEO Lars Jensen added: “While ending the partnership was not our preferred outcome, the contract expiry in 2028 will remove a number of structural constraints. This gives us flexibility to further accelerate the growth of our own brands and to explore new partnership opportunities.”
The group, which will lose around 13% of its annual net sales following the switch, will continue its existing arrangement with PepsiCo in the BeNeLux markets.
