Because the EU Antitrust does not digest Oro Saiwa, Oreo and Lu
Brussels launches an antitrust investigation into the US food giant Mondelez, owner of the Oro Saiwa, Oreo and Lu brands
Lu snacks or Oreo cookies may cost more in some EU countries than others due to the owner company.
EU antitrust regulators on Thursday opened a formal investigation into Mondelez International for fear of limiting competition in cross-border sales of its products in Europe.
The EU antitrust will therefore assess whether the food giant Mondelez has limited competition in a number of national chocolate, biscuit and coffee markets. Thus hindering cross-border trade between EU member states.
Mondelez is one of the largest producers of chocolate, biscuits and coffee in Europe and has Oro Saiwa, Oreo and Lu among its brands.
The investigation into the Chicago-based snack manufacturer will therefore focus on cross-border trade in the European Economic Area. The Commission's suspicions led it to carry out unannounced inspections at the Mondelez site in November 2019.
The case is the latest example of the European Commission's crackdown on companies that impose limits on product sales between EU countries. Last week he fined Valve and 5 other big game publishers for a total of € 7.8 million just for geo-blocking.
All the details on the investigation into Mondelez.
THE DECLARATION BY THE COMMISSIONER VESTAGER
"We are opening a formal investigation to see if Mondelēz may have limited the freedom of competition in the affected markets by implementing various practices that hinder trade flows, ultimately leading to higher prices for consumers," said the vice president of the EU Commission responsible for competition, Margrethe Vestager.
ANTITRUST INVESTIGATES LIMITATION OF TRADE
The Commission fears that the group may have blocked trade between countries where product prices are different. This is called parallel trade. Antitrust will investigate whether parallel trade has led to price increases or limited volumes for customers across the EU bloc.
The survey also includes possible restrictions on the languages used on packaging and agreements that potentially undermine the choice of countries to sell.
THE POSSIBLE VIOLATION OF MONDELEZ
Specifically, Mondelez may have prevented traders and retailers from buying products in a Member State where the price is lower to resell them on markets where prices are higher, a practice that generally allows prices to be lowered. This would lead to "higher prices to the detriment of the consumer", but also to "reduce the diversity of supply".
AT RISK FINE
Mondelez risks fines of up to 10% of its global turnover if found guilty of violating EU competition rules.
THE GROUP PRODUCES OREO COOKIES, CRACKER RITZ AND ALPEN CERALS
Mondelez recorded in 2019 a turnover of 21.4 billion euros and a net profit of 3.2 billion euros.
The Chicago-based group, spun off from Kraft in 2012 prior to its merger with Heinz, also produces Ritz crackers and Alpen cereals. Mondelez also owns Philadelphia cream cheese, Tang drink, and Tuc crackers.
THE US COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION ACCUSATION
It is not the first time that Mondelez ends up in the sights of regulators. As the Financial Times recalls , two years ago the giant reached an agreement with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission on charges of manipulating wheat prices together with Kraft Heinz.
THE HARD WRIST OF THE EU ANTITRUST
As we said at the beginning, the European Commission thoroughly scrutinizes possible anti-competitive practices within the EU bloc.
In 2019 AB InBev, the world's number one brewer, was fined € 200 million by the European Antitrust for hindering the imports of its Jupiler beer production from Holland, where it is cheaper, to Belgium.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/perche-antitrust-ue-scruta-oro-saiwa-oreo-e-lu/ on Thu, 28 Jan 2021 14:41:23 +0000.