Carrefour Rival Won't Junk Pepsi Products For Now

Carrefour's rival has decided not to remove Pepsi products at this time.

The chairman of E.Leclerc, France's largest supermarket chain, has pledged to continue stocking PepsiCo products on the group's shelves. I Photo: Mike Mozart Flickr

Europe's supermarkets are engaged in a battle with major suppliers over "shrinkflation."

However, two of the largest chains seem to disagree on the most effective approach to pressure companies like Unilever and PepsiCo into reducing prices, as reported by Ryan Hogg for Fortune.

The chairman of E.Leclerc, France's largest supermarket chain, has pledged to continue stocking PepsiCo products on the group's shelves, despite initially appearing to support his main competitor's plan to remove the products due to rising prices.

Last week, French supermarket group Carrefour announced the removal of PepsiCo items, including 7 Up and Doritos, from its stores in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Poland.

In a post on LinkedIn, E.Leclerc chair Michel-Edouard Leclerc referenced Carrefour's decision to withdraw PepsiCo products last week and the group's ongoing price negotiations with suppliers.

"Like you, we are fed up with inflation," Leclerc wrote. "You feel like you've been cheated. And since we're in a period of negotiations, we're putting pressure on our suppliers… And we put pressure on ourselves!"

However, Leclerc stated that his supermarket would not escalate tensions to Carrefour's level just yet, preferring to convince the group to lower prices to increase revenues. "I continue to sell Pepsi," Leclerc said.

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