Frito-Lay chips head back to Loblaw, after long and public feud between food giants — via financialpost Economy FritoLay Loblaw
PepsiCo stopped shipping its wide array of snacks — including Quaker products and the Frito-Lay family of potato and corn chips — on Feb. 12 after Loblaw Companies Ltd. refused to pay higher prices. The two sides resolved the dispute last week,, but the last two months might have permanently changed the snack landscape across Loblaw’s 2,400 stores.
At the behest of government, the industry has been drafting a code of conduct that would implement new rules of engagement for suppliers and grocers. As part of that process, PepsiCo and Loblaw will find themselves Neal Brothers Foods said snack shipments to Loblaw increased about 50 per cent in February compared to the same time last year.Co-founder Peter Neal estimated that Loblaw ordered roughly 50 per cent more of his chips during the dispute. “We had people working a whole lot longer than they normally would,” he said in an interview on Monday. “They had empty shelves, which is not a good thing for a consumer … We were able to fill some gaps for them.
On Friday, Loblaw encouraged stores “to continue to support any brands they added to their assortment during the service disruption with Frito Lay,” according to a copy of a memo obtained by the Financial Post. “Loblaw has not made any commitments with Frito Lay regarding shelf space, so you are not required to allocate the same amount of space to them that they had before the service disruption.
“We’re happy to once again have a wide assortment in our chip aisle,” Thomas said, “with a mix of new Canadian flavours and classic favourites, at varying prices to suit our customers’ needs.”