PLANO, Texas, March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Frito-Lay North America's South Georgia sales team is being honored with this year's Dale Stortz Award as the company's "Zone of the Year" for 2009. South Georgia Zone employees earned the award, named for one of Frito-Lay's most respected Sales leaders, for the most outstanding performance in sales, profitability, safety and employee retention from among Frito-Lay's nearly 130 zones nationwide. The South Georgia Zone encompasses several cities in the region including Macon, Savannah, Columbus and Albany.

Frito-Lay's senior vice president of sales Randy Melville, along with other company leaders, recognized team members at a special ceremony today at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Macon, Ga.

"In the midst of one of the most challenging economic climates, the South Georgia sales zone associates have shown that through creative selling models and excellent customer service a team can remain successful," said Melville. "I am proud to present the Dale Stortz Award to this amazing group of leaders."

"Receiving the Dale Stortz Award today honors my team's commitment to their customers and company, while encouraging them to press forward in 2010," said D. Keith VunCannon, South Georgia Zone Sales Leader, Frito-Lay North America.

Frito-Lay North America is the $12 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. Learn more about Frito-Lay at the corporate Web site, http://www.fritolay.com/, the Snack Chat blog, http://www.snacks.com/ and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/fritolay.

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 18 different product lines that each generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade – also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in over 200 countries. With more than $43 billion in 2008 revenues, PepsiCo employs 198,000 people who are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.pepsico.com/.

SOURCE Frito-Lay North America