Frito-Lay suggests lower prices could win back inflation-weary consumers

Following the pandemic, snack food prices jumped 23% in a two-year span from mid-2021 through mid-2023, according to the consumer price index.

The result of the surge in pricing has caused consumers to pull back spending on snack foods. Frito-Lay parent company PepsiCo. announced its quarterly earnings on Thursday, and said that the snack brand's revenue dipped 0.5% in the past quarter compared to the same time last year.

Meanwhile, Frito-Lay's net profit fell 3.5% in the last quarter compared to the second quarter of 2023.

Ramon L. Laguarta, CEO of PepsiCo, suggested that some of its products could have lower prices.

"There is clearly a consumer that is more challenged and is a consumer that is telling us that in particular parts of our portfolio, they want more value to stay with our brands," he said. "That is not for all the consumers. It's some consumers. That is not for all the portfolio, it's some parts of the portfolio, and we have been working different tactics to give the consumer what they want."

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The company said in particular, unsalted snacks have seen declines, while flavored potato chips are still popular among customers.

Laquarta added, "For particular consumers, we need some new entry price points and probably some new promotional kind of mechanics that don't spec for the consumer to invest so much cash in a purchase of salty."

Laguarta was asked whether the rise in weight loss medication has impacted the company.

"I don't think GLP at this point has material impact in our category," he said. "We have a lot of panels and we have a lot of conversations with consumers; it's not impacting us."