About

Led by general counsel and legal, government and corporate affairs senior vice president Francisco Merino, the PepsiCo Mexico, Central America, Caribbean and Andean countries legal team has been regularly highlighted for praise by the industry press for their remarkable achievements in a number of areas. In particular, the trademark work, which is so important for a company that succeeds on the back of their product and brand strength, has been singled out as being of consistently excellent quality and execution. Merino is keen to ensure his team continues to post more achievements in this and other areas, taking pride in their best-in-class status in the in-house legal world. This is crucial given the company’s ambitious plans in the region. In 2014, it was announced that PepsiCo would invest approximately $5bn in Mexico over a five-year period, cementing the country as a key part of their global growth plans. This investment, and with extensive infrastructure and supply network expansions, has provided a vast amount of new work for the legal team to accomplish. Laying the groundwork for future expansion plans and providing the correct oversight and analysis of legal risk also looks set to occupy PepsiCo’s legal team in Mexico for the foreseeable future. Given that PepsiCo Mexico already contributed around $4bn in revenue to the company’s global coffers in 2014, meaning that the country has a growing consumer base that promises to be lucrative time for the company and their legal team.