In the only Carrefour market in central Barcelona, on La Rambla, the emptiness is more than evident. Surrounding a seven-shelf shelf full of Carrefour, Frit Ravitch, Espinaler and San Nicasio chips are two identical cabinets, but their shelves are almost empty. Six bags of Lay's Gourmet on one side, and on the other, about five bags of Country Style, just under a dozen bags of salt and vinegar, and about fifteen bags of ham-and-cheese-flavored Ruffles are the only traces left of the bagged potato chips from PepsiCo. group.
The supermarket chain announced a few days ago in France that it will stop selling all products of this food and beverage company (Lay's, Cheetos, Doritos and Pepsi, as well as 7Up, Bitter Kas and Alvalle gazpacho) in exchange for an “unacceptable price increase”. This collapse in relations will extend to Belgium, Spain and Italy. Here, in the Catalan capital, the sign has not currently been put up to inform customers, as happened in France, but in some establishments of the chain the decision has already become tangible.
In the case of the Carrefour Market (a miniature version of the supermarkets more typical of shopping centres) on La Rambla, its managers link this lack of products to the central location and the large number of tourists who visit it, and it is not surprising that they ruin products of this style. The same print on the shelves of Pepsi drinks. An employee explains how it is withdrawing its competitor, Coca-Cola, in Catalonia. They say they know nothing about whether more stock will arrive, but at another Carrefour market where the sign has spread across Barcelona, they answered for them: No.
Open negotiation
“Do you see a few Lay's? Soon you'll see even fewer: so they're sold out, we won't replenish them anymore,” says one manager, who confirms that PepsiCo, also in Spain, has raised prices a lot. “Customers are happy: they understand this as a precaution, and they know that if the product costs us too much, they will pay for it,” he adds. However, he doesn't understand that there should be an information label; Simply put, the space previously occupied by this brand's potatoes will now be occupied by others.
In turn, PepsiCo confirms that negotiations are still open. “We have been negotiating with Carrefour for several months and will continue the dialogue in good faith to try to ensure the availability of our products,” the company responds to every media outlet that asks about this.
However, at the international level, the situation seems far from harmonious. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that a PepsiCo spokesperson claims that they were the ones who cut ties with Carrefour. “Because the new contract was not agreed upon, we stopped supplying Carrefour at the end of the year, something they knew could happen,” explains the person, who also adds that he hopes to be able to reach an agreement soon for their products to return to the shelves of these supermarkets.
However, this is not the first time Carrefour has behaved this way towards a customer.
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