Because the American chocolate manufacturer Mondelez used practices for years that distorted competition and artificially made its products more expensive, the Milka manufacturer has now been sentenced to a record fine by the European Commission.
As the competition authorities in Brussels announced, the fine amounts to 337.5 million euros. Actually this should be even higher. Because Mondelez had cooperated with the European Commission and explicitly acknowledged its responsibility, the company was waived 15 percent of the fine, it said on Thursday. Nevertheless, it is the highest penalty the EU has imposed on a food producer. Mondelez produces a number of well-known products including Milka chocolate, Toblerone, Daim, Oreo, Mikado, Philadelphia and Tuc.
The European Commission’s investigation showed that Mondelez wanted to prevent cross-border trade between countries with different prices. “These illegal practices allowed Mondelez to continue charging higher prices for its own products, ultimately to the detriment of EU consumers,” the European Commission said.
There are 22 anti-competitive acts listed
In January 2021, the European Commission opened an official procedure. The authority has now announced that Mondelez was involved in 22 anti-competitive agreements or concerted practices. Under an agreement, Mondelez’s customers were required to charge higher prices for exports than for domestic sales. “These agreements and concerted practices took place between 2012 and 2019 and affected all EU markets,” the Commission said.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
