Retailer flexes muscle against Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo and Nestlé

Germany | More troubles ahead for big food and beverage brands. Germany’s largest grocery retailer, EDEKA, with a turnover in excess of USD 65 billion, is taking on the food and beverage bigwigs. After picking a fight with Kraft Heinz’s tomato sauce, PepsiCo’s multivitamin juice Punica was caught in the line of fire.

As Lebensmittelzeitung, a German trade publication, reports, EDEKA has already kicked Punica from its shelves. Punica is owned by PepsiCo and there seems to be a dispute over terms. EDEKA has filled the gaps on the shelves with its private label brand Multi 12, whose packaging looks very much like Punica’s.

In its spat with Kraft Heinz, EDEKA has employed the same arm-twisting tactic. After disagreeing to a supplier price hike, EDEKA banned all Heinz tomato sauce products from its shops and announced it will replace them with a private label.

Observers are unsure as to how far EDEKA will allow these disputes to exacerbate. In the case of Kraft Heinz, EDEKA could be prepared to go the full hog. EDEKA’s private label Papa Joe’s (trans. Dad Joe’s) has already developed a tomato sauce, which could replace Heinz’s in the future. Underlining its resolve, EDEKA has placed ads for its private label tomato sauce in Lebensmittelzeitung, which read: “If Heinz is too cheeky, then comes Dad.”

In 2018, EDEKA caused a stir when it decided to boycott Nestlé’s products. Around 200 Nestlé items were temporarily delisted, including brands like KitKat and Nescafé. After months of negotiations, Nestlé’s products returned to the shelves.