The European Commission has fined Mondelez International 337.5 million euros for 22 cases of hindering cross-border trade in biscuits, chocolate and coffee.
22 violations
According to the European Commission, Mondelez engaged in “territorial supply restrictions”, meaning that the producer of brands such as Côte d’Or, Milka, Oreo or TUC abused its dominant market position to prevent retailers or wholesalers from sourcing products at lower prices in other member states. This led to higher consumer prices.
The investigation into the practices has been ongoing since 2019, when searches took place at the multinational’s offices in Bremen, Mechelen (Belgium) and Vienna. Formal antitrust proceedings followed two years later.
In total, the Commission found 22 instances of anti-competitive practices or agreements. For example, Mondelez stopped supplies to a broker in Germany to prevent it from reselling products to customers in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria and Romania, where prices were higher. The manufacturer also stopped supplies of chocolate products in the Netherlands to prevent imports into Belgium, where Mondelez charged higher prices.
“Isolated incidents”
According to Mondelez, which cooperated with the investigation, these are “isolated incidents” from the past, mainly involving smaller distributors or intermediaries. The company says to take compliance issues very seriously.
The confectionery manufacturer follows in the footsteps of beer giant AB InBev, which was fined 200 million euros in 2019 for not allowing Belgian retailers to import Jupiler and Leffe beer cheaper from the Netherlands and France.
