Entrepreneur
Restaurants are racing to go digital, and PepsiCo wants to help them get there.
To the world, PepsiCo is a global brand known for bold flavors, iconic ads and entertainment partnerships. To restaurant owners, it is also a growth partner offering tools to strengthen their businesses.
André Moraes, who leads global digital marketing for PepsiCo, explains how the multinational food and beverage corporation has been building a digital powerhouse for restaurant partners. “Restaurants are at the center of our lives,” Moraes tells Shawn Walchef of Restaurant Influencers. “If they succeed, the whole community does.”
The initiative includes the Digital Lab, Menu Pro, Local Eats and Media Pro, all designed to make restaurants stronger in the digital age. “Everything that we offer to our customer partners is completely free,” Moraes adds.
That commitment has already scaled in a big way. Through its Menu Pro program, PepsiCo has worked with more than 200,000 restaurants and optimized over one million menus worldwide. It can share insights from one market to another, giving local operators access to the same expertise that benefits national chains. The data collected from this global reach has helped restaurants improve ordering experiences and grow sales.
The results, Moraes noted, are measurable.
“We continue to see double-digit growth in overall digital sales for our restaurant partners,” he says. “Through it, we see growth in beverage sales as well, but it’s profitable growth, which is what we’re really excited about.”
PepsiCo also makes sure the support is hands-on. Digital leads across the country work directly with restaurant operators, helping them improve their menus, adopt new tools and stay on top of changes.
For many operators, it is the kind of one-on-one guidance they would not be able to afford on their own. Proprietary AI systems monitor menus continuously, ensuring items, prices and photos stay accurate across platforms.
For Moraes, the outcome matters most. “Guests are ordering and going to our restaurants, [and they’re] excelling through the tools and services and partnerships that we’re offering,” he says. “We are truly coming through as the growth partner for our restaurant partners.”
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Why local matters
PepsiCo’s impact goes further than digital tools. The company is investing directly in local restaurants and the communities they anchor.
That is where PepsiCo’s Local Eats program comes in. “Local Eats is our program specifically focused on local restaurants,” Moraes says. “If you’ve got one location to even upwards of 100 locations — but focused on local markets — we’re here for you through the Local Eats program.”
Local Eats drives awareness, traffic and loyalty for independent and regional restaurants. The program invests in digital ads, out-of-home campaigns and even connects restaurants to PepsiCo’s national marketing. When PepsiCo shows food in ads, it often highlights a partner restaurant’s story.
Inside the restaurant, PepsiCo provides branded assets to enhance the guest experience. Online, the company buys search and maps ads that put local restaurants at the top of results when hungry customers are deciding where to eat.
The impact was on display at the National Restaurant Show with Russell’s Barbecue, a partner PepsiCo guided through a Local Eats transformation. “What you see here is a bit of the before and after, and you’ll see what their business looks like today,” Moraes says. The results included sharper branding, stronger digital traffic and more in-person visits.
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“Local Eats is about reaching, converting and retaining guests for our partners,” Moraes says. “We want to make sure we are not just driving traffic, but helping restaurants keep customers coming back.”
There is also a community element. Local Eats includes a digital and delivery community program, where operators join live courses with PepsiCo experts and peers to learn best practices and build long-term strategies together.
Diners still want to eat out, connect and be part of a local scene. And for PepsiCo, success means being part of that journey. By investing in digital tools, marketing support and hands-on partnerships, the company is showing that it is not only a beverage brand but also a growth partner committed to helping restaurants thrive in their communities.
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