Food & Beverage

PepsiCo creator Donald Kendall passes away

Logo provided.

September 21, 2020

Donald M. Kendall

Donald M. Kendall, who engineered the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay and built PepsiCo Inc. into one of the largest food and beverage companies, passed away Sunday at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, according to a report in The Washington Post. He was 99.

From 1963 until his retirement in 1986, Kendall brought Pepsi to China and the Soviet Union, extended the company's portfolio by acquiring fast-food chains such as Taco Bell, Kentucky Fred Chicken and Pizza Hut, and helped pioneer the diet soda.

Photo courtesy of PepsiCo Inc.