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The French Competition Authority has just sanctioned several companies active in the purchasing and sales of pork products and delicatessen products for having implemented three concerted anticompetitive practices. The competitors agreed on the price of boneless ham used to make cooked hams, and there were also agreements between competitors for the marketing of delicatessen products under the distributor's brand.
These practices have been brought to light by the clemency procedure, which allows companies that have participated in a cartel to disclose its existence to the Authority and to obtain, under certain conditions, the benefit of total or partial exoneration from the penalty, as is the case with Campofrío and Coop.
Agreement on the variation in the weekly ham price
The groups Campofrio, Fleury Michon, Financière Turenne Lafayette, and Les Mousquetaires were in agreement from January 14, 2011 to April 26, 2013 to hold a common position on the variation in the weekly price of ham in their negotiations with slaughterhouses.
This agreement is therefore of a particularly serious nature, justifying the imposed penalties totaling EUR 21,428,000.
Agreements on charcuterie prices
With regard to charcuterie products, eight companies (belonging to the groups CA Animation, Campofrio, Coop, La Financière du Haut Pays, FTL, Savencia, Sonical, as well as the company Salaisons du Mâconnais) implemented agreements and concerted practices, from April 8, 2010 til April 30, 2013, through secret meetings and bilateral exchanges, to submit requests for price increases to large-scale retailers and also to consult the price offers to be proposed in response to the tenders of these brands. Due to the intrinsic seriousness of this practice, the Authority imposes penalties totaling 10,150,000 euros.
With regard to cooked charcuterie products, seven companies (belonging to the Campofrio, Cooperl Arc Atlantique, FTL, Les Mousquetaires, Nestlé and Roullier groups, as well as the Aubret company) have implemented agreements and concerted practices within the framework of bilateral exchanges between July 2, 2010 and June 7, 2012, to consult price offers to be made, particularly in response to large-scale retailer tenders.
This practice has reduced the uncertainty that would normally weigh on each operator. It may have contributed, either directly or indirectly, to setting higher prices than would have normally resulted from a competitive situation. The penalties imposed in this respect total EUR 61,459,000.
July 16, 2020/ Autorité de la concurrence/ France.
https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/
