The sparkling beverage industry has lost a bit of its luster lately. To put it plainly, soda sales have gone flat, and it’s no wonder. More and more consumers are switching from soda to sports drinks, iced teas, and plain old—or newfangled flavored – bottled water.  To make matters worse, Coke and Pepsi are being driven off of schoolgrounds all over the country by principals and politicians united in their desire to Save Our Kids from Soda.

A soda is essentially a liquid candy bar, so it’s not a bad idea to discourage kids from drinking it like it was going out of style, which it is. But what’s good news for our kids is bound to be bad news for Coke and Pepsi, whose soda sales are not likely to bounce back soon, if ever.

Coke has always held the edge over PepsiCo in the US, but it’s PepsiCo who seems best poised to handle the downturn. Forget the Pepsi Challenge; in recent years, PepsiCo stopped trying to conquer Coke in America and focused its energies elsewhere; on the soda and snack market overseas, and the growing demand in this country for products like baked potato chips and sports drinks (PepsiCo owns Gatorade and Frito-Lay.) Last month PepsiCo agreed to buy Stacey’s Pita Chips.

PepsiCo is so convinced its future lies in chips that it has even taken up potato farming—in China. In fact, PepsiCo is now the largest private potato grower in China. PepsiCo needs to produce a massive amount of potatoes in its campaign to convince Chinese consumers to switch from seaweed crackers to potato chips.

China may be creaming us in the computer chip department, but we’re fighting back. With green tea-flavored Lay’s potato chips.