Food and drink giant PepsiCo has been accused in the US of allegedly giving some retailers different prices for its Pepsi drinks that were not available to others.
The lawsuit, filed by a restaurant owner at the US Southern District of New York, alleges that the Gatorade brand owner was engaged in “anticompetitive and unfair and deceptive business practices”, linked to sales of its Pepsi soft drinks.
Go deeper with GlobalData
PepsiCo did not respond to Just Drinks‘ request for comment at the time of writing.
In the suit, the plaintiff claims PepsiCo gave retailers like Walmart “unfair price
advantages to the disadvantage of other retailers of defendant’s products”.
Walmart has also been contacted by this publication regarding PepsiCo’s alleged anticompetitive practices. It is not a defendant in the case.
“These advantages include promotional payments, allowances, and services to Walmart that are not available to other retailers on proportionally equal terms,” the suit said.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData“Because of defendant’s unfair promotions and price discrimination resulting in artificially inflated prices, Walmart is able to charge lower prices for the products compared to plaintiff and class members causing them to lose significant business.”
The plaintiff added: “Creating an artificial competitive advantage for Walmart exclusively, in this manner, violates the Robinson-Patman Act as well as Massachusetts state law.”
PepsiCo has faced similar allegations in the past. In May, the US Federal Trade Commission decided to drop its legal case against PepsiCo, which accused the company of engaging in “illegal price discrimination” in soft drinks.
In January, the US Federal Trade Commission had launched legal action against PepsiCo, accusing the company of engaging in “illegal price discrimination” within soft drinks.
According to the FTC’s allegations, the Mountain Dew maker had provided “unfair pricing advantages” to a “large, big box retailer”, while increasing prices for other competing retailers and customers.
The FTC did not disclose the name of the retailer in question at the time.
In a statement confirming the scrapping of the class action, FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson said the lawsuit had been dismissed because “the Biden-Harris FTC rushed to authorise this case just three days before President Trump’s inauguration in a nakedly political effort”.
