PepsiCo is insisting that it was the one who initiated an inflation-fueled contretemps with French grocery giant Carrefour, not the other way around.
Though Carrefour said last week that it had decided to pull Pepsi products off its shelves in France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium because they were getting too expensive too quickly, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday (Jan. 8) that Pepsi had decided to stop.
“Regrettably, Carrefour has mischaracterized the chain of events,” a PepsiCo spokesman told the paper. “Given the lack of agreement on a new contract, we stopped supplying to Carrefour at the end of the year, something they were aware could happen.”
Carrefour’s terse response: “We, at the Carrefour Group, have taken this decision.”
Price talks turn prickly
The whole thing started because French inflation spiked to double digits last year. The French government, which usually mandates that retailers and suppliers in the food business negotiate just how much prices will rise, had to step in and push for more talks.
To that end, the government said last February that it had secured a pledge from 75 companies to ease the burden on consumers. But by June, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire was finger-wagging PepsiCo and a handful of other businesses for not doing enough to make their goods cheaper, faster. Until Pepsi and Carrefour figure out a way to make that happen, they’ll have keep exchanging offers across the table and snipes in the press.
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