PepsiCo India vs. Gujarat Potato Farmers
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Case Code: ECON074 Case Length: 13 Pages Period: 1989-2019 Pub Date: 2019 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.300 Organization : PepsiCo India Industry : Food & Beverage Countries : India Themes: International Marketing |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Excerpts
"In this instance, we took judicial recourse against people who were illegally dealing in our registered variety. This was done to protect our rights and safeguard the larger interest of farmers who are engaged with us and are using and benefitting from seeds of our registered variety."
- Spokesperson, PepsiCo India – in April 2019
"Indian farmers cannot be intimidated by MNCs who have been introducing GM seeds to our fields. They have been altering the biodiversity of the region and for us; it is important that farmers retain the right to own the natural diversity."
- Kapil Shah, Farmer Rights Activist, Jatan Trust, India – in April 2019
"It is very important that farmer seed sovereignty is upheld. They should have the freedom to choose what they want to grow, as they always had. We are putting pressure on the government, saying they have the duty to implement the law. There is a spirit behind that law, which has to be upheld."
- Kavitha Kurungati, Activist, Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture, India – in March 2019
Introduction
On April 5, 2019, PepsiCo India filed legal cases against nine farmers in three separate courts spread across the districts of Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Deesa, and Banaskantha in the state of Gujarat in India for growing and selling the FC5 potato variety over which it claimed it had exclusive rights under section 28 of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right Act 2001 (PPVFR). PepsiCo India, maker of Lays chips, claimed damages from the farmers against whom it filed the lawsuits. While four of the farmers were sued for Rs. 10 million each, five were sued for Rs 2 million each. The filing of the lawsuits by PepsiCo India led to protests from farmer rights activists and to adverse comments against the company on social media which called for a boycott of PepsiCo India products all over the country. More than 190 farmer rights activists petitioned the central government to make PepsiCo India withdraw the lawsuits against the farmers. Faced with the backlash from the media, farmer associations, and political groups, PepsiCo India finally withdrew the lawsuits on May 10, 2019 (Refer Exhibit I for the Timeline Related to the Filing of the Lawsuit and its Aftermath). According to press reports, PepsiCo India was also under pressure from its parent organization, PepsiCo in the US, to wind up the case and close the lawsuit.
The latest move came after a meeting of PepsiCo India's executives and Gujarat government officials. In a statement to the court, PepsiCo India stated, “The plaintiff wishes to withdraw the captioned matter relying on its discussions with the government to find a long-term and an amicable solution of issues around its seed protection."
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