Pepsi and Lay’s pulled from supermarket shelves in Europe over price increases

Carrefour, France’s biggest supermarket group, will no longer sell PepsiCo products, including Pepsi and Lay’s crisps, because of price increases.

Carrefour, one of France’s biggest supermarket chains, will stop selling PepsiCo products because they have become too expensive, in the latest clash between retailers and their suppliers over prices. Stores in France will display a note alongside Pepsi, 7up and Lay’s chips, among other products, that reads: “We are no longer selling this brand due to unacceptable price increases. We apologize for any inconvenience caused,” CNN affiliate BFM-TV reported. BFM-TV also reported that Carrefour would pull PepsiCo products from stores in Italy, Spain, and Belgium, as well. CNN has contacted Carrefour for comment. PepsiCo told CNN that it had been in discussion with Carrefour for many months and would “continue to engage in good faith in order to try to ensure that our products are available.” The move marks an escalation in Carrefour’s attempts to pressure some of the world’s biggest consumer goods companies to cut their prices after hiking them over the past two years in response to soaring energy, commodity, and labor costs. Reuters reported in September that the supermarket chain had started a “shrinkflation” campaign — slapping warnings on products ranging from Lindt chocolates to Lipton Ice Tea advising customers that they had shrunk in size, but still cost more, even though raw material costs had eased.