PepsiCo to hike prices on Doritos, sodas pivot from recent effort to save consumers money

PepsiCo said Thursday it’s raising prices on some chips and drinks after a disappointing third quarter — pivoting from a recent effort to save consumers money — due to soft soda sales and struggles pulling off its turnaround plan. Doritos, Ruffles, SunChips and some soda brands will see prices jump in the single-digit percentage range, the company said.Prices on these items will still be lower than they were at the start of the year.Pepsi said it needs to raise some prices to offset rising costs for fuel, aluminum and agricultural supplies, which have skyrocketed due to the Iran war and tariffs. But it’s a notable strategy shift from February, when the company slashed prices on Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos by up to 15% just ahead of the Super Bowl in an attempt to win back inflation-battered consumers.PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said the lower prices helped bring back some customers, but third-quarter earnings in the North America division were weaker than expected – and its turnaround is taking longer than they had hoped.Frito-Lay snack food volumes were flat compared to the same period last year, while beverage volumes slipped 2%.“We don’t feel good about the beverage business,” Laguarta said during a conference call Thursday, admitting the company’s sodas – including its flagship Pepsi brand – had fizzled compared to competitors.He added that PepsiCo will put “all of the urgency of the business and the focus on improving our performance in soft drinks.”The company plans to cut costs and use the savings to ramp up investments in Poppi, the healthy probiotic soda brand it acquired last year, as well as Mountain Dew and Pepsi.PepsiCo embarked on a turnaround process last fall after activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a $4 billion stake in the company and demanded it lower its prices. It had hiked prices by double-digit percentages for eight quarters in a row through 2022 and 2023, arguing it had to cover rising...