PepsiCo hit with lawsuit from restaurant owner over allegedly unfair practices: 'Oppressive burden'

A restaurant filed a class action lawsuit against PepsiCo earlier this month. 

In the lawsuit, the Italian restaurant alleges that PepsiCo engages in unfair business practices by selling its products at different prices to different merchants, according to a Reuters report. 

What's happening?

The lawsuit is based on antitrust law that seeks to prevent sellers from giving advantages to some businesses over others. The restaurant claims that Pepsi provides Walmart with advantages that are not afforded to others.

According to Reuters, the restaurant that brought forth the lawsuit said Pepsi "places an unfair and oppressive burden on other stores and retailers who are not provided the same advantages" as an entity like Walmart.

The Robinson-Patman Act of 1936 aimed to level the playing field for small shops tht must compete against large retail chains by setting certain retail prices.

The Federal Trade Commission dropped the case in May, but the restaurant has resumed the legal battle.

Why is PepsiCo relevant to the environment?

Break Free from Plastic completed an audit of 250 brands in 2023. PepsiCo was among the top global plastic polluters.

PepsiCo has made statements regarding improving sustainability. For instance, the company aims to have 20% of all its beverages sold in reusable packaging by 2030. This is part of their PepsiCo Positive (pep+) initiative aimed at making the brand more sustainable. 

PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta described pep+ as "our vision to deliver a more sustainable, people-centric future, driving growth and value, for everyone."

It should also be noted Pepsi has been a leader in transitioning to electric semi trucks for delivering its products, as one of the first companies to trial the new Tesla Semi and has continued to partner with the EV maker on expanding its shipping electrification — which reduces pollution but also long-term costs. 

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In 2024, the company also announced over $6 million in grant money for sustainable agriculture. The grants are a welcome boon to the agriculture community. Across the world, farmers are facing hardship exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Extreme weather such as droughts and floods have devastated crops from Ukraine to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The effects of increasing global temperatures on our communities will continue to worsen if we continue to utilize dirty energy sources like petroleum and natural gas, which are also the basis for plastic drink bottles. 

PepsiCo was also hit with a lawsuit from the Virgin Islands earlier this year for greenwashing, or falsely promoting the eco-friendliness of their plastic bottles. 

While PepsiCo has made strides to increase the sustainability of its brand in the face of the effects of a warming world, more can still be done. Shop Without Plastic ranked PepsiCo as the third worst plastic polluter worldwide. 

What's going on with PepsiCo's lawsuit?

While the lawsuit is fresh and has no outcome yet, PepsiCo stands potentially accountable for adding undue financial hardship on many small businesses while giving breaks to large corporations. 

The lawsuit will begin in a Manhattan court.

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