PepsiCo and Walmart may have escaped federal scrutiny earlier this year, but a new lawsuit suggests the legal pressure is far from over. A proposed PepsiCo, Walmart price fixing class action accuses the companies of using their market power to inflate prices for consumers shopping outside Walmart’s aisles.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, was brought by a group of consumers who say they were forced to pay more for Pepsi products at retailers that did not receive the same preferential pricing as Walmart. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial and monetary damages.

Allegations of Market Power Abuse

The complaint claims PepsiCo and Walmart exploited their dominant positions in the soda and grocery markets to enrich themselves “to the detriment of consumers and benefit from suppressed competition.” Though a Federal Trade Commission investigation into the companies was dropped during the Trump administration, the lawsuit argues that newly unsealed FTC allegations reveal the contours of an unlawful pricing arrangement.

According to the filing, Walmart is PepsiCo’s largest customer — a relationship so critical that Pepsi has warned investors it would suffer a “material adverse effect” if it lost Walmart’s business.

The Alleged “Price Gap” Deal

The lawsuit leans heavily on claims outlined in the FTC’s now-unsealed complaint, which alleged that since 2015, Pepsi and Walmart maintained an agreement establishing a “price gap.” Under that alleged arrangement, Pepsi provided Walmart with favored pricing in exchange for allowing the retailer to aggressively promote its low prices on Pepsi soft drinks.

Plaintiffs argue that the deal effectively locked in Walmart’s pricing advantage while forcing rival retailers — and their customers — to absorb higher costs.

Price Differences Cited in the Complaint

The lawsuit offers concrete examples of the alleged disparity. According to the filing, a 12-pack of 12-ounce Pepsi cans sold for $8.27 at Walmart, compared with $8.39 at Target and $8.99 at Wegmans.

Plaintiffs say such gaps reflect a system where Pepsi sold products to Walmart at lower-than-competitive prices, pushing consumers at other stores to pay more for the same soda.

Promotional Benefits Under Scrutiny

Beyond pricing, the FTC complaint also accused Pepsi of providing Walmart with promotional payments, allowances and other services that were not extended to competing retailers. The lawsuit contends those benefits further tilted the competitive landscape in Walmart’s favor.

In a statement responding to the suit, a PepsiCo spokesperson said the case “leverages the inaccuracies and unsubstantiated allegations in the dismissed FTC Complaint, including mischaracterizations of our business dealings with customers.”

As the PepsiCo, Walmart price fixing class action moves forward, the case promises to test whether alleged pricing strategies amounted to healthy competition — or crossed the line into a scheme that left consumers footing a higher bill.