PepsiCo Products Pulled From Carrefour Supermarkets to Protest Price Increase

The Carrefour retail company pulled out PepsiCo's products from its supermarkets in the United Kingdom. The latter explained that it made this decision as the snack and beverage producer implemented a new price hike for its items, such as Pepsi soft drink and Frito-Lay's potato chips.

According to Reuters, Carrefour is protesting the latest price hikes by removing all PepsiCo products from shelves of its grocery and supermarket outlets in Europe. The company reportedly informed its customers that they will no longer find any 7-Up, Pepsi, Cheetos, Doritos, Quaker Oats, and other snacks and drinks made by the American food company.

Countries Affected by the Product Pullouts

The French retail and wholesaling firm said it will stop stocking its store shelves with everything produced by the PepsiCo company. Carrefour said that from its point of view, PepsiCo's decision to raise the prices of its products is an unacceptable move.

Carrefour's spokesperson confirmed that the brand's produce will be taken off the shelves in Belgium, Spain, Italy, and France. All its locations will also display signs to notify shoppers that they are not selling PepsiCo products anymore. With the four mentioned countries, Carrefour's move will affect over 9,000 branches, which is equivalent to two-thirds of its global footprint of about 14,348 outlets, based on its annual report in 2022.

PepsiCo's Response

CNN Business reported that removing PepsiCo's items in its retail stores is Carrefour's other attempt to pressure the leading consumer goods companies in the world to lower their prices after raising them in the last two years. The company is trying to push price reductions due to the surging labor costs, commodities, and energy.

In response to Carrefour's action of ejecting its products, PepsiCo simply issued a short statement without expounding on the topic by saying, "We have 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."

Photo by: Ildar Sagdejev (Specious)/Wikimedia Commons(CC BY-SA 4.0)