New supermarket rules as Pepsi, Doritos and Quaker ‘no longer stocked’
Carrefour has pulled PepsiCo products in four EU countries over price hikes. Stores in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium will no longer stock PepsiCo drinks, Lay’s and Doritos crisps and Quaker cereals, Carrefour has today confirmed. In the wake of Christmas[1], the French supermarket chain Carrefour has said it will stop selling PepsiCo products because the global food company has put its prices up by too much.
Stores will from Thursday carry signs saying the store will no longer stock PepsiCo products. The move affects fizzy drinks, Lay’s and Doritos crisps and Quaker cereals “due to unacceptable price increases”. Brands like Cheetos and 7Up are already reportedly not available at Carrefour supermarkets in Paris in France on Thursday.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Edith Carpentier – a shopper in the French capital – told Reuters. “I think there will be lots of products left on the shelves because they have become too expensive and they are all things we can avoid buying.” The US company said in October it planned “modest” price increases this year. James Walton, the chief economist at the Institute of Grocery Distribution, said: “The French supermarkets are very ready to delist people if they don’t like the deals that they get.
“Obviously that’s a last resort, because nobody wins if the goods that people want are not available on the shelves.” Pepsi raised prices 11% in the July-September period, the seventh straight quarter that the Purchase, New York, company has increased prices by double-digits. The higher prices took a toll on demand, with sales volumes down 2.5%. PepsiCo said some of that volume decline is strategic.
The company said it has been shrinking package sizes to meet consumer demand for convenience and portion control. “Units are growing much faster than volume,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said Tuesday in a conference call with investors.