Pepsi Keeps Taco Bell Deal After KFC Jumps to Coca-Cola
PepsiCo renewed its drinks contract with Taco Bell through 2036, just a week after sister chain KFC switched to Coca-Cola in the U.S.
Ever wonder why your Taco Bell meal always comes with a Pepsi, never a Coke? It's not a coincidence — it's a business deal. And that deal just got renewed.
PepsiCo (the company behind Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Doritos) announced on Thursday that it will keep supplying drinks to Taco Bell through the year 2036. This is a big win for Pepsi, which has been battling its rival Coca-Cola for restaurant contracts.
The timing is interesting. Just one week earlier, KFC — which is owned by the same parent company as Taco Bell — announced it was dropping Pepsi and switching to Coca-Cola in the United States.
Here are the key facts:
- Taco Bell and KFC are both owned by a company called Yum Brands (a restaurant company that also owns Pizza Hut).
- Pepsi's relationship with these chains goes back decades — Pepsi actually used to own them before splitting them off into a separate public company in 1997.
- The new Taco Bell deal covers not just the U.S. but also international markets like Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Thailand.
Thanks to the Pepsi partnership, Taco Bell serves exclusive items you can't easily get elsewhere, like the famous Mountain Dew Baja Blast and Doritos Locos Tacos.
Analysts note that KFC's switch to Coke was partly symbolic — it's another sign that Coca-Cola has been steadily outperforming Pepsi in the soda category in recent years. (When investors talk about one company "beating" another, they often mean it's selling more products or growing faster.)
The bottom line: Pepsi lost KFC but held onto Taco Bell, keeping a decades-long partnership alive. For everyday customers, it means your Baja Blast isn't going anywhere.
This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/22/pepsico-taco-bell-beverage-deal.html