Negotiations between Coca-Cola and Epic Partners have stalled

Purchase alliance Epic Partners is putting pressure on Coca-Cola after unsuccessful negotiations: its retailers, notably German Edeka, are ordering fewer products from the soft drink producer.

Price increases announced

Negotiations on so-called “on top” conditions between retail alliance Epic Partners and bottler Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) have stalled. Epic negotiates with multinationals over European marketing activities such as second placements and promotions on behalf of Auchan, Casino, Edeka, Intermarché, Jeronimo Martins, Jumbo, Migros and Picnic. Now that those talks have stalled, its members will be ordering fewer products from the manufacturer, reports Lebensmittel Zeitung.

Coca-Cola confirmed the information: “We are disappointed that Edeka has decided to remove some of our drinks from the range in Germany to put pressure on us in the international negotiations with Epic,” Florian von Salzen, commercial director at CCEP Germany, told the trade journal.

It is perhaps not a coincidence that the dispute follows the announcement of price increases by the bottler. Moreover, Edeka recently settled a nearly two-and-a-half-year long dispute with PepsiCo, so it once again has an alternative to Coca-Cola on its shelves.