Filipino food is bold. What does that mean for the cola we drink with it?

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MANILA, Philippines – Filipino food is not known for holding back. There is the savory richness of adobo, the punch of sisig, the smoky char of inihaw and the comforting familiarity of tapsilog. These are flavors that can fill a table, often with a cold soft drink alongside them.

But Filipino dining is about more than what is on the plate. Meals are also occasions for people to gather, whether over dinner, a barkada meal or a quick lunch shared between friends.

“Filipino food reflects the richness and diversity of the country itself,” said Aditya Sheoran, general manager of PepsiCo Philippines. While every region has its own specialties, flavors and traditions, he noted that “meals are an important way for Pinoys to connect.”

That social aspect of dining is especially relevant among young Filipinos for whom meals with friends can be as much about the people and conversations as the food.

The Philippines has a young population, with 32.4 million Filipinos aged 15 to 30 in 2024, making up 28.8% of the country’s household population, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. 

This sizeable youth population represents an important consumer base for brands, particularly as younger Filipinos develop and influence habits around food, socializing and everyday purchases. Within this broader group is Gen Z, a generation increasingly shaping how brands think about consumption and engagement.

For Pepsi Philippines, understanding these evolving habits means looking at the role of soft drinks not simply as something served alongside food, but as part of the overall dining experience.

This thinking is behind Pepsi Extra Fizz.

The reformulated Pepsi Regular combines an improved taste with more pronounced carbonation, delivering what the brand describes as #ExtraSarap.

Starting with the meal

To develop Pepsi Extra Fizz, the company looked beyond the dishes Filipinos enjoy and considered how they experience meals.

“What stood out was how social and expressive Filipino dining is, especially among Gen Z,” Sheoran said.

Shared meals often bring together a range of dishes and individual preferences. One person may choose sisig, another fried chicken and another pancit or pares. People do not have to order the same food to share the same occasion.

“Young people do not need to have identical tastes to enjoy an occasion together,” Sheoran said. “Each person can bring an individual preference and personality to the table while still sharing the same experience.”

Pepsi's consumer research also pointed to interest among younger consumers in a more pronounced drinking experience, including a cola with a bolder taste that could accompany savory, flavor-forward dishes while remaining refreshing throughout the meal.

The insight was less about creating an entirely new flavor and more about rethinking a familiar product within a familiar occasion.

“The insight started with the meal occasion,” Sheoran said. “For us, that meant asking what kind of cola could complement a dining culture built around bold flavors, different tastes and shared experiences.”

In this sense, the product is one expression of a broader approach: using local consumer behavior and cultural context to inform innovation.

Building relevance across Filipino meal occasions

The insight also extends beyond a particular dish or dining format.

Filipino dining takes many forms, from everyday kainan to handaan, barkada dinners, office lunches, quick-service restaurant visits and food deliveries at home. What connects these occasions is the collective nature of eating: food is often something to be shared, talked over and enjoyed with others.

This reflects a broader Filipino sense of kapwa, where everyday experiences can be shaped by a sense of togetherness and connection. A meal can bring people together even when they have different tastes, budgets or preferences.

“Meals with friends are an important part of that, which makes this a relevant space for Pepsi to build a stronger connection with them,” Sheoran said.

Pepsi Extra Fizz is designed to fit into this range of occasions, from casual carinderia meals and quick lunches to barkada gatherings and larger celebrations, where soft drinks already has a natural place at the table.

“Meals remain a major opportunity, and Pepsi will continue to play a central role in how we capture it,” Sheoran said. “Within the carbonated soft drinks category, growth will come from creating bolder and better-tasting experiences for consumers, as demonstrated by Pepsi Extra Fizz, our upgraded Pepsi Regular formulation.”

Putting Pepsi to more Filipino tables

The challenge, however, is not only understanding where consumers drink Pepsi. It is also making sure the product is available when and where those occasions happen.

“For us, innovation is only meaningful if consumers can access it. That is why route to market is as important as the product itself,” Sheoran said.

Pepsi is working to expand availability through sari-sari stores and other neighborhood channels, supported by pack sizes and price points suited to different consumer needs. The aim is to reach consumers across more locations and consumption occasions, including communities beyond major urban centers.

This approach reflects PepsiCo's broader view of innovation, which combines global capabilities with local understanding.

Sheoran, who previously led Global Innovation Strategy across PepsiCo's Foods and Beverages businesses, said ideas cannot simply be transferred from one market to another without considering the local context.

“What works in one market cannot simply be assumed to work in another,” he said.

In the Philippines, that means looking beyond taste preferences to understand how consumers shop, what products are accessible to them and the occasions in which they choose a beverage.

“For me, the principle is simple: scale should give us more possibilities, but local insight should determine the choices we make,” Sheoran said.

That principle also informs PepsiCo's broader ambitions for the carbonated soft drinks category.

“Our ambition is to grow ahead of the categories in which we compete,” Sheoran said. “

We will pursue that by investing in locally relevant innovation, strengthening our manufacturing and distribution capabilities, and building a carbonated soft drink portfolio that gives consumers choices across taste, affordability and consumption occasions.”

Fizz, with a Filipino lens

For Pepsi Extra Fizz, the starting point was a closer look at the Filipino table—how people eat, gather and choose what they drink.

The product is Pepsi’s response to one insight from that broader picture: in a dining culture where flavors are varied and meals are often shared, there is an opportunity to rethink the role a familiar beverage can play in the occasion.

More broadly, Extra Fizz reflects how PepsiCo is approaching innovation in the Philippines: starting with local consumer behavior and using those insights to shape products for the way people actually eat, gather and spend time together.

The fizz may be the most visible change, but the thinking behind it starts with the meal. In a food culture known for bold flavors, Pepsi is betting that what Filipinos drink with their meals should not fade into the background. — BY JAP TOBIAS

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Editor’s Note: This #BrandSpace story is created with PepsiCo. It is produced by the Advertising Content Team that is independent from our Editorial Newsroom. 

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