Brussels imposed a fine of 337.5 million euros (333.6 million francs) on Thursday on Mondelez, owner of the Toblerone brand, suspected of having restricted competition in the chocolate, biscuits and coffee markets.
The European Commission accuses the American agri-food giant of having ‘impeded cross-border trade in chocolate, biscuit and coffee products between Member States, in violation of EU competition rules’, following a investigation opened in January 2021.
The European executive believes that the group restricted trade in its chocolates, biscuits and coffee between member countries through illegal agreements and abused its dominant position in certain markets.
‘Mondelez has illegally restricted cross-border trade across the EU in order to maintain higher prices for its products to the detriment of consumers,’ Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.
This giant fine, the ninth heaviest imposed by the EU for anti-competitive practices, comes at a time when food price inflation is a major concern for European households.
Companies are regularly singled out for having excessively increased their margins in recent years while consumer prices have experienced a surge since 2022 in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
‘Food prices differ from one Member State to another. Cross-border trade within the internal market can lower prices and increase the availability of products for consumers. This is particularly important in times of high inflation, stressed Margrethe Vestager.
Resulting from the spin-off of Kraft Foods activities in 2012, the Mondelez group, headquartered in Chicago (Illinois), owns many well-known brands such as Côte d’Or, Milka, Oreo, Ritz, Toblerone and TUC.
In a similar case of anti-competitive practices, the Belgian-Brazilian brewer AB InBev, world number one in the sector, was fined 200 million euros by the European Commission in May 2019.
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