Carrefour Removes Popular PepsiCo Products from Shelves in Europe

France-based supermarket chain Carrefour S.A. has decided to remove various PepsiCo Inc. products from its stores in Europe due to their high prices. Carrefour, which operates more than 12,000 supermarkets globally, including branches in France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium, began removing items such as Doritos and Lays chips, Pepsi and 7-Up soda, Lipton tea, and Quaker foods on Thursday, as reported by multiple news outlets.

According to CNN, signs on the shelves read, "We are no longer selling this brand due to unacceptable price increases. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

The move by Carrefour comes amid a pricing battle between food producers and retailers, especially in Europe, where food inflation has been on the rise. The French government has even expressed its intention to advocate for reduced prices.

Carrefour alleges that food manufacturers are keeping prices high for their own profits, despite the decrease in raw material costs. In an attempt to draw attention to this issue last year, the supermarket chain placed "shrinkflation" labels on certain products to inform customers that the package sizes had been reduced, effectively increasing their prices.

PepsiCo responded to Carrefour's decision by stating, “We've been in discussion with Carrefour for many months and we will continue to engage in good faith in order to try to ensure that our products are available."

At present, neither PepsiCo nor Carrefour have provided further comments regarding the matter.

During the company's earnings call in October, PepsiCo Chief Executive Ramon Laguarta mentioned that the prices of their products are expected to remain high until 2024 due to "higher inflation" within their business operations.

PepsiCo's third-quarter earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, with revenue increasing from $21.971 billion to $23.453 billion compared to the previous year. Wedbush analysts attributed this revenue growth primarily to price increases.

While PepsiCo shares have experienced a slight decline of about 3% over the past year, the S&P 500 has seen a gain of 23%.