Pepsi, Coke soda pricing targeted in new federal probe | Hacker News Reader

Pepsi, Coke soda pricing targeted in new federal probe

politico.com

22 pointsDocFeind15 comments

Yes, expensive soda is the problem of our times.

You are aware you can have more than one big problem right? I drink too much diet soda. The cost of a 12 pack has more than doubled in over a year. There are now cheaper 12 packs of rot gut beer than soda.

Price gouging should be stopped everywhere. The soda companies have taken full advantage of the pandemic and should be punished at the very least for colluding.

This isn't raising the price of a necessity such as food or gas during a storm. It isn't price gouging as it is commonly understood.

Just don't buy it.

I do understand the govt looking into it for reasons of keeping a slightly more level playing field between large and small retailers. from the article: The companies’ pricing strategies are being scrutinized under an obscure law known as the Robinson-Patman Act, the people said. The law prohibits suppliers from offering better prices to large retailers at the expense of their smaller competitors. The largely dormant 1936 law is aimed at promoting a level playing field between small retailers and large chain stores.

It's soda, not a basic human right. Don't buy it, buy the competitor/offbrand, soda stream, whatever.

Everything I like is a human right

Offbrand also increased at approximately the same rate.

Like how is a 20oz at the gas station $2.50 and a 2 liter at the grocery store ALSO $2.50?

Coke and Pepsi are cheap enough. A trillion dollars a year is being added to the national debt, and this is how the government chooses to spend our tax dollars? Ridiculous.

Let's not look at politicians and senators insider trading.

Let's not look at simplifying the tax code to make it easier/cheaper/free for normal people to file taxes and harder for the rich and powerful to hide their wealth.

Let's not look at the earth's climate changing and how we're going to need to adapt to that in the coming decades.

Yes - let's look at how (honestly quite delicious and addictive) sugar water and their shills are using preferential pricing from a century's old law.

Keep being distracted with petty squabbles, and we won't see the wool being pulled over our eyes for the things that _really_ matter.

Any and all anti-trust actions are good things.

Many of the problems we are currently experiencing are due to the fact that there is no real competition between companies. It looks like there is, but when you trace the supply chain backwards you eventually converge to a single supplier. Consequently, it doesn't matter how you spend your money because it always lands in the same company.

Sure, expensive fizzy water seems like a First World Problem(tm). However, PepsiCo and Coke are huge conglomerates and any action against them is welcome.

"Keep being distracted with petty squabbles, and we won't see the wool being pulled over our eyes for the things that _really_ matter."

Not with your contributions. Thank you for your service.

I would agree, but there are lots and lots of rackets going on right now, so I'm not going to complain. I might complain that they are not ALSO going after others, but not for this? Have you heard about why all the McDonald's ice cream machines are messed up all theantic time? 100% anticompetitive monopoly bullcrap. It's just ice cream, but it's still bad for consumers, and stupid.

What are some of the systems or industries have rackets going on within them? Those seem ripe for change.

Well this is action from the FTC which probably can't do any of those other items

Agreed, the rampant abuse of privileged information for financial gain by US government officials is infinitely more troubling than expensive high-fructoss corn syrup product prices.

Funny how the regulatory agencies don't go after their "friends". How can this possibly be solved?

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