Article: PJ's founder blasts PepsiCo for reducing it to a 'me-too'.(news)

The founder of PJ's Smoothies, the pioneering smoothie brand in the UK, has hit out at PepsiCo's treatment of the brand after its repositioning as a rival to cheap own label.

Harry Cragoe, who created the UK smoothie category in 1994 with the launch of Pete and Johnny Smoothies, said PepsiCo had taken away the brand's individuality.

"It alienated the brand and took it away from its smoothie heartland," said Cragoe. "PJ's is now a me-too to own label and it's a really sad day for the brand and the category I created. It shows what can happen when you take a very individual brand and put it into a large company mentality."

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