Price increases from global brands PepsiCo and Lay's have compelled one of the biggest supermarket chains in the world, French-owned Carrefour, to stop merchandising the brands throughout France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium, reports The Wall Street Journal. The conflict arose after more than two years of price increases from both brands.
A Carrefour spokesperson shared that it will add notes to store shelves to explain the change to customers. The company is no longer selling items such as Lay's, Doritos, Cheetos, Benenuts snacks, Alvalle gazpacho, Lipton teas, Pepsi and 7 Up beverages, and Quaker foods products, according to the report. Outside the U.S. 7 Up is sold through PepsiCo.
“We've been in discussion with Carrefour for many months and we will continue to engage in good faith in order to try to ensure that our products are available,” a PepsiCo spokeswoman said.
Through the pandemic, many brands said that they could raise prices without significantly damaging sales due to brand strength. PepsiCo finance chief Hugh Johnston said that PepsiCo products appeal to a range of shoppers and that people tend to indulge in its offerings even during hard economic times.
The decision to drop PepsiCo and Lay's products comes a few months after Carrefour attached labels to products it claims underwent “shrinkflation” wherein the quantity of a product decreases in its packaging without changing the retail price.
In the U.S., supermarkets have also shared concerns regarding rising prices in select categories, despite slowing inflation. Full Story (Subscription Required)
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Image: Carrefour