Orero and Toblerone sold at higher prices in some countries, EU Antitrust fines Mondelēz

An investigation launched in 2021 found that between 2006 and 2020 Mondelēz entered into “anticompetitive agreements or coordinated practices” to sell various chocolate, biscuit and coffee products in some European countries such as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and Romania

Orero, Tuc, Toblerone, Ritz and Milka chocolate sold at higher prices in some European countries due to an anti-competitive agreement implemented by the manufacturer, the American giant Mondelēz International, which hindered cross-border trade between member states. She was the one to attest to it the European Commission which imposed a record fine on the multinational 337.5 million euros after three years of investigations.

The investigation, launched by the European Antitrust in 2021, has certified that in various periods between 2006 and 2020 Mondelēz has entered into “anticompetitive agreements or coordinated practices designed to limit cross-border trade in various chocolate, biscuit and coffee products.”

In particular, the Commission found that Mondelēz participated in 22 anti-competitive agreements, in violation of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Among these agreements were some that limited the territories or customers to which wholesalers could resell products, including clauses requiring higher prices to be charged for exports than for domestic sales. These agreements took place between 2012 and 2019 and covered all EU markets, while others, carried out between 2006 and 2020, prevented 10 exclusive distributors active in some Member States from responding to sales requests from part of customers located in other European countries without the prior permission of Mondelēz.

Still, between 2015 and 2019 it allegedly “abused its dominant position in some national markets with regards to the sale of chocolate bars”, in violation of Article 102 of the TFEU. In particular, the company would refused to supply a distributor in Germany to prevent the sale of chocolate in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and Romania, where prices were higher; it would also stop supplying these products to the Netherlands to prevent exports to Belgium, where Mondelēz sells its products at higher prices.

The Commission recalled that generally within a single market, such as that of the European Union, distributors tend to buy products where prices are lower and then sell them where they are higher, with the result of lowering them there too . Consequentially the “illegal practices” adopted by Mondelēz would have instead allowed the company to continue to charge more for its products in some EU countries, to the detriment of consumers and artificially subdividing a market that should be single. Since the company respected the cooperation procedures and “expressly admitted its responsibilities”, the fine was reduced by 15%.