Frito-Lay in food fight with Loblaws

Got a craving for Doritos, Ruffles or Miss Vickie’s?

You’ll have to satisfy it somewhere other than Loblaws. Or Shoppers. Or Zehrs. Or Fortinos. Or any of the chains owned by Loblaw Cos., after Frito-Lay Canada stopped shipping its snack-food brands to the country’s biggest grocery retailer this week over a pricing dispute.

Frito-Lay, owned by Pepsi-Co, said it was trying to pass some of the increased costs from supply chain woes companies have faced during COVID-19.

“Our business has faced unprecedented pressures from rising costs of items including ingredients, packaging and transportation. To help offset these pressures on our Canadian operations and to ensure that we maintain the high quality our consumers expect, we have made adjustments to our prices that are consistent across the marketplace,” PepsiCo spokesperson Sheri Morgan said in an email.

Loblaw Cos. spokesperson Catherine Thomas says the retailer is focused on trying to keep prices down as much as possible for consumers, something she stressed is difficult to do when the industry is struggling with cost increases.

“When suppliers request higher costs, we do a detailed review to ensure they are appropriate. This can lead to difficult conversations and, in extreme cases, suppliers don’t ship us products,” Thomas said.

The decision to withhold shipments from the country’s biggest grocery company is surprising, but could be the prelude to more battles between retailers and suppliers, said retail analyst Lisa Hutcheson.

A spokesperson for Metro said the Quebec-based grocery chain is still stocking Frito-Lay products.