The latest news, trends, analysis, interviews and podcasts from the global food and beverage industry

PepsiCo subsidiary Frito-Lay has been fined approximately 1.3 billion Turkish lira (approx. $36 million) after Turkey’s Competition Authority found it had engaged in anti-competitive practices designed to restrict rival brands' access to the market.

The investigation focused on whether Frito-Lay, which owns popular snack brands such as Doritos, Ruffles, Lay’s and Cheetos, had violated the law by preventing the sales of its competitors and attempting to exclude them from the packaged chips sector.

Alongside the penalty, Frito-Lay must now implement measures to ensure fair competition, particularly at smaller retail outlets of under 200 square metres.

The company was found to have prevented competitors from selling packaged chips at grocery stores, markets and buffets that purchased its products. To address this, retailers must allocate 30% of the visible and vertical space on Frito-Lay stands to competing brands. This designated section must be marked with a separator and labelled to indicate it is reserved for competitor products.

Frito-Lay is prohibited from preventing the sale or visibility of competing brands at points of sale. The company cannot provide financial benefits to retailers beyond standard purchases and only one Frito-Lay-branded stand will be allowed at each sales point.

In cases where no competitor products are available, the reserved space must remain empty rather than being filled with Frito-Lay's products.

Regulators hope this will enhance consumer choice and promote fairer competition in the sector.

FoodBev has reached out to both PepsiCo and Frito-Lay for a comment.