Carrefour, a prominent European supermarket chain with over 12,000 stores globally, has taken a decisive step by removing various PepsiCo products from its shelves. The reason cited for this action is what Carrefour deems as “unacceptable” price hikes imposed by PepsiCo.
The affected products include popular items such as Pepsi and 7 Up sodas, Lipton tea, Quaker foods, Doritos, and Lays chips. This move by Carrefour is not isolated, as other major companies in the industry have also expressed concerns about similar pricing issues.
The removal of PepsiCo products is not limited to a single country but spans across multiple European nations, including France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium.
Carrefour has taken a transparent approach to communicate its decision, adding warning notes on the shelves to inform customers about the reasons behind the absence of these products.
In September, the supermarket chain had already raised concerns about the overall cost of food products and had taken steps to pressure manufacturers into reducing their costs.
As part of this strategy, Carrefour had introduced labels on products, stating, “This product has seen its volume or weight fall and the effective price by the supplier rise.”
The issue of price hikes from suppliers has prompted public grievances from other industry players as well. Michel-Edouard Leclerc, the CEO of E. Leclerc, a rival supermarket chain, voiced his concerns on LinkedIn, indicating a shared sentiment within the industry regarding the challenges posed by increased supplier prices.
This situation reflects a broader industry concern about the rising costs of goods and the impact on both retailers and consumers.
The actions taken by Carrefour and the public statements from industry leaders highlight the growing tension between retailers and suppliers over pricing dynamics in the European supermarket landscape.
According to an English version of his post, Leclerc stated, “We must therefore convince all these major suppliers who made the mistake of increasing their prices too much, to lower them now or to moderate them.” “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 “good faith” negotiations with Carrefour for a number of months in an effort to guarantee the availability of its products.
