Not all heroes wear capes… 

Well, it appears that America finally bullied a Fortune 50 company into blinking… and now, snackflation is getting walked back. Pepsi says it’s cutting retail prices up to 15% on Lay’s, Doritos, and Cheetos across the U.S., starting basically now.

Why? Because all God's people said… 

In short, this decision didn’t come from a glorified think tank. It came from consumers absolutely spamming Pepsi with complaints. Calls. Emails. Voicemails. Grown adults leaving messages about chips like it was a hostage situation. And honestly… it’s about d*mn time. For context, salty snack prices jumped ~38% YoY last year. Which is just insane. When a bag of Doritos costs the same as a rotisserie chicken, people start doing math they don’t want to do.

(Source: New York Post) 

As a result, Pepsi’s CEO basically admitted it got out of hand in the name of sales stalling. But loyalty has limits. And as it turns out, even the most ride-or-die Flamin’ Hot consumer has a breaking point. So now Pepsi’s trying to win people back the only way that works: lower the price and act humble about it. 

Meaning, an 8oz bag of Lay’s goes from ~$5 to ~$4.29. Doritos drop ~80 cents. Of course, that doesn’t sound too dramatic until you realize it’s the first time a big food company has gone backwards on pricing instead of just changing the bag art and hoping you don’t notice. That said, this also lines up nicely with Pepsi’s broader don’t make Elliot Management take you out back. Since the activist stake, plants have been shut, SKUs have been axed… and now, “Made with real potatoes” is suddenly a headline. 

(Source: Giphy) 

However, this isn’t a wellness pivot by any means. It’s a demand pivot. People aren’t anti-snack. They’re anti-feeling dumb at checkout. And if this works? Every other packaged food company is watching closely. Because once one giant admits prices got stupid, the whole shelf gets uncomfortable.

For now, Americans get the W. Now let's see who else falls in line. Until next time, friends… 

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News holds positions in Pepsi as mentioned in the article.