In the past, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) won skeptical consumers over to its namesake cola with its “Pepsi Challenge” taste tests. These days, the company is luring the original “Pepsi Generation” with a reliable stream of dividends. But this consumer giant’s broad array of products and international presence offer investors future growth potential in addition to dividends.

PepsiCo is the largest food and beverage business in North America and the second largest in the world, with operations in roughly 200 countries. The firm boasts well-established, billion-dollar megabrands such as Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Quaker Oats, Tropicana and Gatorade.

The company has 19 products that generated at least $1 billion in retail sales in 2010. Pepsi-Cola led this group with over $20 billion in sales, followed by Mountain Dew and Lays, which each produced  about $8 billion in sales. The company also has 24 other global brands with sales ranging from $250 million to $1 billion annually.

PepsiCo’s diversified product line supports a steady revenue stream and gives it an edge on its competitors. For example, PepsiCo weathered the recent decline in domestic soft-drink consumption because it only generates 50 percent of its revenue from this market. By contrast, archrival Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) relies on its soft drinks for 77 percent of its top line.

The company earns 45 percent of its revenue from international markets, including approximately 30 percent from developing markets. PepsiCo’s continued expansion in China, India and Russia should drive future growth.

PepsiCo currently holds a 5.5 percent share of the Chinese carbonated-beverage market, which leaves plenty of room for growth in this key emerging market. The company invested $2.5 billion into its Chinese operations in 2010—including nearly a dozen new plants to manufacture soft drinks, non-carbonated drinks and snacks—in an effort to steal market share from Coca-Cola.

Meanwhile, PepsiCo has already made substantial inroads into India, with a 40 percent share of the country’s carbonated-beverage market. And in 2010, the company acquired Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods, Russia’s leading branded food-and-beverage company, in a $5.4 billion deal.

The company is also focused on expanding its “good-for-you” products to meet consumer trends toward healthier consumption. Sales of this product line, which includes Quaker Oats and Tropicana, rose 29 percent to almost $13 billion in 2010.

PepsiCo’s revenue grew 13.3 percent during the third quarter as compared to the year-ago period and management reaffirmed guidance for high single-digit growth in earnings per share for the full year of 2011. Revenue should remain strong regardless of the economic climate—sales dropped only slightly during the nadir of the Great Recession.

PepsiCo’s stock currently yields 3.2 percent and the company has increased its dividend almost every year since 1977. Although PepsiCo’s share price has remained largely unchanged for four years, its dividend has steadily climbed 70 percent during that time. As investors wait for PepsiCo’s international growth story to unfold, they’ll be well compensated by its quarterly dividend.