Antara & Nur Yasmin, Jakarta – Soft drink giant PepsiCo will pull all of its products from Indonesia on Oct. 10 after discontinuing a contract with local distributor Anugerah Indofood Barokah Makmur.

The decision not to extend PepsiCo's contract with Indofood (AIBM) was a mutual one, Antara news agency reported on Wednesday. After Oct. 10, AIBM will no longer produce, sell or distribute PepsiCo products in Indonesia.

However, PepsiCo said they have not ruled out a return to the Indonesian market with its more popular brands Pepsi, Miranda, 7Up and Mountain Dew.

The Industry Ministry's agro industry director general, Abdul Rochim, said the ministry has not received any report of the split between PepsiCo and AIBM.

"No, I've seen no report [of the failure to extend the contract] between Indofood and Pepsi," Abdul said on Thursday.

He said he wanted to make sure the public knows that PepsiCo is not quitting because of terrible business conditions domestically.

"It wasn't because the business climate here has been less than ideal. The problem was the relationship between Pepsi and its partner," Abdul said.

Abdul said he will contact PepsiCo to find out more about the problem and work out what the ministry can do to help.

During their partnership, AIBM was responsible for producing, distributing and selling PepsiCo products.

AIBM is a joint venture between Indofood CBP (ICBP) Sukses Makmur, who owns most of its shares, and Asahi Group Holdings. ICBP has not issued any statement regarding PepsiCo's decision.

Two fast-food joints in Indonesia, Pizza Hut and KFC, both of whom used to sell Pepsi, have announced they had already terminated their contract with PepsiCo Oct. 1. KFC has confirmed a switch to PepsiCo's biggest competitor, Coca-Cola.

PepsiCo's soft drinks were produced in factories in Purwakarta, West Java. There is no news on the fate of the factory employees.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/context/for-the-love-of-what-pepsi-to-quit-indonesian-market