The European Commission has fined French food cooperative Cecab and Dutch manufacturer Coroos upwards of €30m for their involvement in a canned vegetable cartel. Whistle-blower Bonduelle, which was also embroiled, has been granted ‘full immunity’.
Nestlé will fight to revoke a €20m fine imposed by the German cartel office for illegal exchange of competition-relevant information with other food majors including Kraft and Unilever.
Several Israeli bakery chains have been issued with charges by the anti-trust authorities over accusations of collaborative involvement in the price fixing of bread products and anti-competition activities.
As a probe continues into the practices of French flour mills supplying commercial bakeries, France's anti-trust watchdog has this week hit those producers with a €149.4m fine over price fixing on packaged flour sold in supermarkets.
As the competition authorities are stepping up scrutiny of the food sector, all companies should ensure they have compliance structures in place and do not view national activities in isolation, say lawyers at CMS Cameron McKenna
Irish dairy group Glanbia has reached a settlement with the Irish
competition authority over allegations concerning the fixing of the
retail price of milk.
