PepsiCo Gives in to Boycott, Small Win in War Against SHRINKFLATION

The boycotts and closed wallets have seem to have made an impact over at PepsiCo.

You see, people weren’t happy that chips, sold under their company Lay’s, were getting smaller and smaller.

There’s less chips going in the bags.

And in the multipacks that parents were getting for kid’s lunches, people were getting fewer bags.

So, the consumer opted out for something else.

Big PepsiCo wasn’t happy.

PepsiCo is trying to win back customers tired of finding air in their chip bags

• Adding two more bags to their variety-packs
• Dropping new "bonus" bags w/20% more chips
• Brands: Lays, Tostitos, Doritos, Ruffles, & more

A small win in the war on shrinkflation pic.twitter.com/8xis2jPecN

— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) October 16, 2024

PepsiCo is reversing course on shrinkflation.

📰: https://t.co/CUPwKY4h7J pic.twitter.com/DCJvN0SRA7

— 7News (@7NewsWatertown) October 16, 2024

Washington Examiner reports:

Frito-Lay’s parent company, PepsiCo, said it’s adding chips back to bags after an effort to cut prices wound up costing the company when consumers left Lay’s and Doritos on shelves.

Inflation prompted the company to dial back the volume of its products, such as fewer chips in a bag or fewer bags in a pack. However, it learned an expensive lesson as consumers decided to purchase other brands or stop buying altogether. Now, PepsiCo is reportedly increasing the amount of chips in bags by 20% and adding two bags to its multipacks.

New York Post adds:

PepsiCo is trying to win back customers turned off by “shrinkflation” with a special promotion that offers more potato chips in bags of Lay’s, Doritos, Tostitos and Ruffles.

The company told CNN that “bonus” bags of Tostitos and Ruffles will contain 20% more potato chips for the same price as standard bags in select locations.

Did you notice that? Only certain locations get a few extra chips. How thoughtful.

PepsiCo, the nation’s largest seller of salty snacks, said that it will also add two more small bags of chips to its 18-bag variety pack.

A recent Bank of America analysis found that snack sales fell 0.5% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period a year ago while retail snack volumes declined by 1.1%.

PepsiCo snack sales fell 1% last quarter while its snack volumes dipped by 1.5%.

ADVERTISEMENT

In recent years, snacks have been among the grocery items whose prices have surged due to ongoing inflation.

Last month, the average price of a 16-ounce bag of potato chips was $6.46 — a 28% increase from the $5.02 average price from the same month four years ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For those of you out there worrying about PepsiCo and if they’ll be able to make a profit after this move, I hear you.

I share your concern.

Here’s some numbers:

Revenue	US$91.47 billion (2023)
Operating income	US$11.98 billion (2023)
Net income	US$9.16 billion (2023)
Total assets	US$100.5 billion (2023)
Total equity	US$18.64 billion (2023)

I know it looks like a lot, but these CEOs have high electric bills with those mansions of theirs.

Not to mention the landscaping fees. Poor guys.

I sure hope they can afford to keep giving us a few extra chips. Maybe we should start a GoFundMe for the struggling company?

But they own other brands as well, like Tropicana.

And that’s shrinking:

Sigh. A case of shrinkflation. At my local grocery store, it looks like Tropicana is moving from 52oz to 46oz bottles while keeping the same price 😡 As if inflation wasn’t bad enough, now, we have to deal with smaller portions. pic.twitter.com/3J3AdALB8H

— Mikki Devine (@mikdev) October 14, 2024

As for 7-Eleven…

Well, I hope you like your coffee black.

As for the large cup shown, a carbonated drink was used.

But still. Who fills their coffee to the brim? Many need room for coffee and sugar. So, many are getting shorted.

*P.S. The headline image is from 2020 at Wal-Mart. Back when large bag of chips were around $2.48.

Now they’re around $6.