PepsiCo’s fight against nine subsistence farmers of Gujarat for cultivating the potato variety used for its Lay brand of chips has aptly been described as a David versus Goliath story. The soft drinks and snacks giant dropped the cases like a hot potato as pressure mounted on the company from various sections of Indian society, including farmers lobby groups, political parties and the consumers of its products.
The David-Goliath analogy is apt because the snacks giant pitted itself against a handful of humble potato growers in the Deesa, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha and Aravalli districts of Gujarat, who did not have the means to even defend their cases in the court, let alone pay the compensation of Rs 1 crore plus each which Pepsi had demanded as compensation for alleged infringement of ‘intellectual property rights’.