SunChips Brand And Susan G. Komen Partner To Support Education And Early Detection Of Breast Cancer

PLANO, Texas, May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- To encourage women to take control of their health and an active role in breast cancer risk reduction, SunChips, the multigrain snack brand from PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division, is teaming up with Susan G. Komen® to launch a new educational website and support Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure events across the country – all to educate women about breast cancer. The relationship between the SunChips brand and Komen dates back to 2006, when the two first partnered to launch volunteer recognition program Hope Shines On.

As part of this year's partnership, the SunChips brand will donate more than $200,000 to Komen to educate consumers through three key activations:

• New educational website – www.komen.org/SunChips - Now through May 25, consumers can visit the new site to learn more about early detection. For each site visit, the SunChips brand will donate $1 to Komen, up to $50,000. The guaranteed minimum donation is $25,000.
• Race sponsorships and on-site education - As a National Series Sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure series, the SunChips brand will sponsor 24 races across the country from May through October. Participants will have the opportunity to sample SunChips multigrain snacks and receive educational materials about early detection of breast cancer.
• Specially marked SunChips multigrain snack bags - During Breast Cancer Awareness month in October, consumers will be able to purchase specially marked bags of SunChips multigrain snacks featuring the Komen Running Ribbon and details about how to learn more about breast cancer. The SunChips brand will also donate $150,000 to Komen in October to help fund future research and screenings, for a total donation this year of more than $200,000.

"As a brand dedicated to helping our consumers live life to the fullest, we want to help raise awareness about breast cancer risk reduction and early detection," said Christine Allen, senior director of brand marketing, Frito-Lay. "It is our hope that through this renewed partnership with Komen, we can help educate and encourage women to continue taking control of their health."

An estimated 232,340 U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and nearly 40,000 will lose their battles with this disease. However, thanks to advances in screening and treatment, the five-year survival rate for women with breast cancer that has not spread beyond the breast is 98 percent, and there are now more than 2.9 million breast cancer survivors alive in the U.S.

"It is critical for women and men to be informed about their risk for this terrible disease," said Dorothy Jones, vice president of marketing at Komen. "Through our partnership with SunChips online and at Races across the country, we are excited to be able to reach even more people with lifesaving information, bringing us one step closer to ending this disease."

The SunChips multigrain snacks and Komen partnership will be supported with consumer-facing in-store displays in select retailers throughout the country.

About Susan G. Komen®
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Suzy, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer. Today, Susan G. Komen® works to end breast cancer in the U.S. and throughout the world by investing more than $750 million in breast cancer research and $1.5 billion in community outreach programs over the past 30 years; providing funding to help low-income and uninsured women get screened and get treatment; advocating for cancer research and outreach programs; and working globally in more than 30 countries. Visit komen.org. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

About SunChips
SunChips multigrain snacks is one of the many brands that makes up Frito-Lay North America, the $13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), which is headquartered in Purchase, NY. In addition to Frito-Lay, PepsiCo business units include Pepsi-Cola, Quaker Foods, Gatorade and Tropicana. 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 http://twitter.com/fritolay.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales.  Our main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world.  PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo.  We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages from treats to healthy eats; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate.  For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

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SOURCE Frito-Lay North America