991126 Frito-Lay Signs Deal With Oberto SausageNovember 9, 1999Plano, TX - Frito-Lay, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of snack foods, announced that the company signed an exclusive national distribution agreement with Oberto Sausage Company, a leader in the $1 billion meat snack category. Starting in March, 2000, Frito-Lay will begin distributing Oberto products to more than 400,000 retail outlets across the U.S. where its line of chips and snacks are already sold through the company's 15,000 salesperson “direct-store-delivery” sales system. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Oberto makes and sells Oh Boy! Oberto meat snacks, which are the best- selling brand of natural beef and turkey jerky products. Natural style jerky accounts for almost 37% of the total category and is the fastest growing segment, with similar dollar growth over the past year. Oberto, an 81-year-old privately held company, has fully developed its markets in the West and plans to widen its leadership position through this exclusive agreement with Frito-Lay. The deal was preceded by a successful 6-month distribution test with Frito-Lay in Dallas, where Oberto sales tripled. “This alliance unites the power and reach of the Frito-Lay selling machine with Oberto, the strongest brand in meat snacks, while complementing our great line of traditional salty snacks,” said Al Bru, Frito-Lay North America's President and Chief Executive Officer. “The partnership also moves us further into the rapidly growing $20 Billion 'convenient impulse foods' category of innovative, on-the-go offerings that are more like meals.” Frito-Lay will distribute selective Oberto products including natural beef jerky. In addition to broadening Oberto's in-store availability and visibility, the alliance will increase awareness with national marketing and advertising programs. The Oberto line will be teamed with the Frito-Lay family of products, including global multi-billion dollar brands Doritos Tortilla Chips, Lay's Potato Chips and Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks. Frito-Lay, headquartered in Plano, TX is the $11B snack food division of PepsiCo, Inc., which is based in Purchase, NY. Frito-Lay is the market leader in half of the world's top 10 snack chip markets with operations in 44 countries.
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