Inflation has been at the forefront of consumer concerns for much of the past two years. But when one of Europe’s biggest grocery stores removes overpriced products, that’s when you know it’s really happening and it’s hurting shoppers.
But after pulling PepsiCo products like Doritos and Pepsi off shelves due to their “unacceptable” prices, French supermarket Carrefour has finally buried the hatchet.
Europe’s largest grocery store has brought PepsiCo products back to its store shelves in France Wall Street Journal he reported Wednesday.
“It’s nice to see friends we haven’t seen for a long time,” Carrefour executive director Alexandre de Palmas said in a post on X on Wednesday, holding a bottle of Pepsi.
It’s nice to see friends we haven’t seen for a long time. @pepsicofrance pic.twitter.com/0ACITgCmI1
— Alexandre de Palmas (@a_depalmas) April 3, 2024
The fight between the two giants has been ongoing for several months now. Last year, Carrefour issued “shrinkflation” warnings on the likes of Nestlé, Unilever and, of course, PepsiCo, to expose their practices. It’s part of the store’s effort to keep prices as low as possible, even as brands are raising prices on their part. The trade-off is that grocery stores also face pressure on their margins.
Earlier this year, the French grocery chain pulled PepsiCo products from shelves in response to inflation at a time when consumers’ incomes were squeezed. The two argued over what led to their consequences: While Carrefour said it is opposing the inflation restriction, PepsiCo argued that this was because contract negotiations went badly. It is not yet clear what happened between the food and drink brand and the supermarket chain, but it was significant that PepsiCo products were not on Carrefour’s shelves.
A PepsiCo spokesperson said this Fortune that the company was “pleased to have reached an agreement and we are delighted that our products are back on Carrefour’s shelves for people to enjoy once again”.
The tug-of-war between companies and grocery stores over pricing issues has led to similar cases in the past. For example, in the UK Tesco stopped stocking Kraft Heinz baked beans, ketchup and tomato soup in 2022 due to price rows. Manufacturers have tried to justify rising prices in the face of inflation as a necessary evil to meet production costs. However, retail chains argue that the measure is hurting customers and their ability to buy basic food products.
Across Europe, the crackdown on price rises has intensified in recent times: the UK’s competition watchdog has warned supermarkets against profiting from price rises. Fortunately for supermarkets, prices are cooling, which means less time and resources spent dealing with rising food and drink prices. Governments are also taking different approaches to absorb some of the price difference.
The details of the agreement between PepsiCo and Carrefour are not yet known.
Carrefour representatives did not immediately respond Fortunerequest for comment.