It is an announcement to say the least unexpected, and even out of time, delivered by Bruno Thévenin, the general manager of PepsiCo France. While everywhere in the world, plastic is a hated material, emitting CO2, asphyxiating the oceans, harmful to our health, while even Prime Minister Edouard Philippe promises to tackle it, PepsiCo France learnedly explained that Tropicana, one of the group’s flagship brands, was going to convert to plastic.
No more cardboard packaging for the leader in fruit juice in France: ” Cardboard brick, that’s enough, […]. Consumers want transparency, they want to see the product “, Affirms Bruno Thévenin in an interview given to” Le Monde “on June 12th.
It is not known if Tropicana consumers will be happy with it, in any case, this announcement set social networks on fire.
The first to have drawn on Twitter is Charly Jehl, host of the Alsatian radio station Top Music.
But what a stupid idea … All this for customers who want to see the content. Dude, your orange juice will be yellow … https://t.co/cotnkkA8ZA
The hashtags #boycott and #tropicana have multiplied on the Web, followed by the simpler #BoycottTropicana
PepsiCo is switching from cardboard to plastic to package its Tropicana juices. #BoycottTropicana https://t.co/ww27aO4ksy
The Facebook page de Tropicana was almost immediately covered in angry comments, in response to the ads posted by the brand.
Tropicana’s Facebook site
Comments to which, for the moment, it does not respond directly. As for the Tropicana website, it simply points out that the plastics used are 50% recycled… which will undoubtedly not appease the most annoyed consumers.
Because Tropicana’s initiative will not only annoy those who resist plastic: it also directly affects the purses of its fans. It is the association fighting against the lies of the food industry Foodwatch that discovered this enormity: the switch to plastic will allow Pepsico to achieve substantial gains … on the backs of consumers. In an email, Karine Jacquemart, the director of Foodwatch France warns:
“We found the brand’s new plastic packaging right next to the old cardboard packaging: same name, identical composition… but with 100 milliliters less and above all… 0.72 euros more expensive. In short: 38% more expensive for 10% less juice! “
For the moment, it is impossible to say if this bad buzz will impact Tropicana sales. But it’s a safe bet that branding will take a hit. Contacted by “l’Obs”, the PepsiCo group did not respond to our requests.
