Doritos prices jumped 50% in four years and PepsiCo waited until it lost billions to do anything about it

The skyrocketing price of Doritos, Lay’s, and Cheetos have pushed away cash-strapped consumers and have cost Frito-Lay billions. The company is slashing prices to course correct, but its efforts may be too little too late.

Ahead of the Super Bowl, Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, started cutting prices on its portfolio of chips products like Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, and Tostitos by 15% as consumers sought cheaper options. The quick pivot on chip prices comes after years of price increases that have cut the company’s market value by $50 billion since its highs in 2023.

“People shouldn’t have to choose between great taste and staying within their budget,” said PepsiCo U.S. Foods CEO Rachel Ferdinando in a statement ahead of the price decrease. 

In the beverage business, Pepsi’s products come in second to Coca-Cola, but thanks to the dominance of Frito-Lay, which owns nearly 60% of the U.S. salty snacks market, it has some pricing power that has helped make it PepsiCo’s moneymaker. In 2024, Frito-Lay made up about 27% of the company’s revenue. 

Yet this power combined with a pandemic-era push to accommodate higher supply-chain costs led to skyrocketing prices. In four years, the price of a 14.5 ounce “party size” Doritos bag at Walmart skyrocketed to $5.94 from $3.98 in 2021—nearly a 50% increase, Bloomberg reported, citing........

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