Food feud ends: Pepsi, Doritos return to one of world’s biggest grocers
Pepsi. 7Up. Doritos. Cheetos. Lay’s. Lipton Ice Tea.
These are some of the PepsiCo products returning to shelves at one of the world’s biggest grocery chains, after an agreement was reached with Carrefour stores in France.
The food feud lasted for about three months, after Carrefour - a France-based grocer which has 12,000 stores globally - announced it was removing PepsiCo products over price increases. Stores in countries such as France, Italy, Belgium and Spain were reported to be affected during the dispute as Europeans continued to battle with high food prices.
“It’s good to see friends we haven’t seen in a long time,” Alexandre de Palmas, executive director of Carrefour’s France branch, posted Wednesday on X alongside a photo of himself holding a bottle of Pepsi.
“PepsiCo products are back on our shelves,” Carrefour said in a statement, according to French media. “An agreement has been reached, as we had hoped, in the interest of the customer.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that while a deal was struck in France, negotiations were continuing over PepsiCo products in four other countries. Carrefour did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Washington Post early Thursday.
PepsiCo France said in a statement that it was "pleased to have reached an agreement and are delighted that our products are returning to Carrefour’s shelves for people to enjoy once again.”
The dispute between the two companies became public in early January, when Carrefour began displaying signs in its stores explaining that it would “no longer” sell PepsiCo products “due to unacceptable price increases,” adding: “We apologize for the inconvenience caused.”
A spokesperson for PepsiCo told The Post at the time that the company had “been in discussion with Carrefour for many months and we will continue to engage in good faith to try to ensure that our products are available.”
The move from Carrefour came as food prices in France had risen 7 percent year-over-year in December. This March, the year-on-year rise was 1.7 percent, according to France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies - a significant decrease from a high of 15.9 percent in March 2023.
Randall Sargent, a partner in the retail and consumer goods division of the marketing consulting firm Oliver Wyman, told The Post in January that tactics such as pulling all of a brand’s products are not uncommon in Europe. “While consumers are still very loyal to certain national brands, it’s a bit less disruptive when they’re pulled from the shelf because they’re already used to, and more willing in many categories, to shift to the private brand equivalent,” she said.
Carrefour expects to grow its private label, according to a strategic plan published in 2022. The company aims to have its private label represent 40 percent of food sales in 2026 - up from 33 percent in 2022. PepsiCo’s business in Europe accounts for about 14 percent of its global revenue, amounting at about $9 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report.
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