- A class action lawsuit has been filed against PepsiCo and Walmart alleging that the two companies have been part of a decade-long price-fixing scheme.
- According to the suit, the PepsiCo inflated product prices at all retailers other than Walmart, offering them a competitive edge.
- The lawsuit alleges that this scheme violates the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits monopolization of commerce.
Are PepsiCo and Walmart in cahoots? That’s exactly what a new class action lawsuit filed against the two companies alleges—according to the suit, both PepsiCo and Walmart have been apart of a decade long price-fixing scheme. Allegedly, the two companies have “artificially raised the price of Pepsi across the United States at every single retailer other than Walmart for over a decade.”
Why does this matter? Well, this alleged scheme creates a price gap where Pepsi “inflates the sale price of its soft drink products at every single retailer other than…Walmart,” forcing consumers to pay “higher than competitive prices for Pepsi products from every seller other than Walmart,” according to the litigation. Additionally, PepsiCo doubled down on this price gap by also offering Walmart promotional payments, allowances, and services that were not offered to other retailers, while also being allowed advertising advantages within Walmart stores, like being highlighted over other soft drinks and receiving preferential displays. “PepsiCo has been systematically weaponizing itsrelationship with Walmart to crush competition,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit pertains to a handful of PepsiCo products including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Aquafina, Gatorade, Lipton, Pure Leaf, and bottled Starbucks drinks. The class action lawsuit pertains to customers who purchased Pepsi products from any retailer other than Walmart from January 1, 2015 until the present, alleging that consumers were overpaying for product. According to the suit, this scheme violates the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlaws contracts and conspiracies to restrain trade and bans monopolization or attempts to monopolize commerce.