One of the world's largest supermarket chains is recalling PepsiCo Inc. products. Famous from shelves in Europe due to its high prices.
Carrefour SA CA, headquartered in France,
The company, which operates more than 12,000 supermarkets worldwide, began removing items including Doritos, Lay's, Pepsi, 7-Up Soda, Lipton Tea and Quaker Foods chips from stores in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium on Thursday, according to multiple news reports.
“We are no longer selling this brand due to unacceptable price increases. We apologize for any inconvenience caused,” CNN reported, citing signs on the shelves.
The move comes at a time when food producers and retailers – especially in Europe – are struggling due to rising prices. Food inflation was particularly high in France, where the government said it would push to lower prices.
Carrefour claimed that food manufacturers are keeping prices high for their own benefit, despite falling raw material costs. Last fall, it tried to shame some of its suppliers by placing “deflation labels” on some products, warning consumers that manufacturers had reduced package sizes, effectively raising their prices.
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“We have been in discussions with Carrefour for several months and will continue to engage in good faith to try to ensure the availability of our products.”
This came in a media statement on Thursday.
Neither PepsiCo nor Carrefour immediately responded to requests for further comment.
On the company's earnings call in October, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said prices were expected to remain high in 2024 due to “higher inflation” in its business, according to a FactSet transcript.
PepsiCo beat analysts' expectations with its third-quarter earnings, with revenue growing to $23.453 billion from $21.971 billion a year earlier. Wedbush analysts said at the time that revenue growth was “entirely driven by prices.”
PepsiCo shares have fallen about 3% over the past 12 months, compared with the S&P 500 SPX's gain of 23%.
