Walmart And Pepsi Accused Of Price-Fixing Scheme In New Lawsuit
Everyone likes low prices, and people generally don't assume that anything fishy is going on when they see a screaming deal on their favorite soft drinks at the grocery store. Yet, that's exactly what a recent lawsuit alleges was occurring between Pepsi and Walmart. Martin Gelbspan, Alexander Govea, and Aaron Hinds filed what could be a class action suit against the two industry titans on December 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The claim asserts that PepsiCo and Walmart partnered behind the scenes to keep prices on Pepsi products lower than those of competing stores. If true, the allegations mark one more shady thing about Walmart's grocery department.
The plaintiffs claim this collusion has been ongoing for roughly 10 years, citing January 2015 as the beginning of PepsiCo's underhanded partnership with Walmart. Along with selling Pepsi products to the multinational retailer for below the typical wholesale cost, the lawsuit declares that the soda giant was helping Walmart beat the competition by bestowing it with data-sharing services and promotional payments. On top of it all, PepsiCo reportedly prevented other retailers from offering lower prices than Walmart by increasing wholesale prices or reducing discounts for said retailers. The assertion is that these actions created an unfair competitive landscape by violating the Sherman Antitrust Act and multiple state antitrust laws. Interestingly, this isn't the first time PepsiCo has found itself in hot water due to its alleged favoritism towards Walmart.
The FTC was looking into Pepsi last year
Some folks may have experienced a sudden onset of deja vu reading about Pepsi's alleged collusion with Walmart, and with good reason. Last year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Pepsi, with claims similar to the ones spurred in the current lawsuit. In that legal battle, Coca-Cola's biggest rival was accused of skirting the Robinson-Patman Act, a law intended to prevent discriminatory pricing. However, in May 2025, the FTC dropped the lawsuit in a unanimous 3-0 vote.
The current legal action alludes to evidence from the FTC to lend credibility to its claim, including emails indicating Pepsi was purposely favoring Walmart. And it wasn't just soda prices that were supposedly being affected. The cost of products like Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, and Pepsi Zero (is there really a difference between the two?) was kept irregularly low, along with other popular PepsiCo brands such as Aquafina, Gatorade, Rockstar, and Starbucks beverages, if the allegations are true. In response to the alleged price-fixing accusations, Walmart told USA Today that it's aware of the complaint and will continue to "deliver value and everydaylow prices" to customers by negotiating on their behalf.
As for PepsiCo, it told the outlet that it cannot comment on pending litigation, though "it continues to operate in compliance with applicable laws and remains committed to providing all customers with fair, competitive, and non-discriminatory pricing, discounts, and promotional value, regardless of size or channel."