PepsiCo products removed from supermarket giant’s shelves over ‘unacceptable’ price hikes

Business

By Daniella Genovese, Fox Business

European supermarket chain Carrefour is removing PepsiCo products from store shelves due to what it says are “unacceptable” price hikes. 

It’s a problem that other major companies in the industry have taken issue with as well.

According to multiple reports, the chain, which has over 12,000 stores worldwide, started clearing PepsiCo’s Pepsi and 7 Up sodas, Lipton tea and Quaker foods, as well as its Doritos and Lays chips from shelves in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium. 

A spokesperson for the supermarket chain told The Wall Street Journal that it added warning notes on its shelves explaining the reason behind the change.

Carrefour already issued concerns about the cost of food products and added price warnings in September to pressure manufacturers to reduce their costs.

The company added labels to the products that said: “This product has seen its volume or weight fall and the effective price by the supplier rise.” 

In a recent LinkedIn post, Michel-Edouard Leclerc, the CEO of rival supermarket chain E. Leclerc, also issued public grievances over the price hikes from suppliers. 

“We must therefore convince in the coming month all these major suppliers who made the mistake of increasing their prices too much, to lower them now, or to moderate them,” Leclerc said, according to an English translation of his post. “We must return to more reasonable, more transparent, and better spread out impacts of their costs.” 

The company told the Journal that it has been in talks with Carrefour for several months and is engaging in “good faith” to try and ensure that its products remain available.

PepsiCo did not respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.