A new year, new boycotts: Carrefour has delisted PepsiCo products (including Lipton and Lay’s), calling the supplier’s price increases “unacceptable”.
Additional pressure
The annual negotiations between suppliers and supermarkets are already producing some serious conflicts. Carrefour France is (temporarily) suspending sales of PepsiCo products, Olivier Dauvers reports in his blog. “We are no longer selling this brand because of an unacceptable price increase. Our apologies for the inconvenience”, posters state on the shelves where previously Dorito’s or Quaker muesli were.
Although there is still a difference between theory and practice: customers note that they can still just order some products online and that there is even a promotional action on Pepsi cola and Benenuts. Since those deals and stocks have been fixed for a long time, that promotion has been allowed to go on.
There is additional pressure this year, as the French government has asked for the annual talks to be brought forward. The deadline for a deal is now between 15 and 31 January, where previously it was usually around 1 March. The government hopes that reduced commodity prices, including for oil and grain, will be passed on to consumers more quickly in supermarkets. However, Dauvers notes that few deals have yet been struck, even though the deadline expires in a few weeks.
