European Commission accuse Italian food company of running food cartel

The European Commission has accused ambient food company Conserve Italia of running a "food cartel" to distort competition for the sales of canned food within the European Union, breaking the EU's antitrust laws.

The announcement came as a part of a preliminary statement of objections levied against the company by the EC. If the view is confirmed, the company would be in direct violation of laws that prohibit anticompetitive business practices in the EU, including colluding on prices and market sharing.

The case against them goes back to September 2019 when the EC adopted a settlement decision against Bonduelle, Cooros, and Groupe CECAB, finding the three companies participated in a cartel for the supply chain for certain types of canned vegetables within the European Economic Area. The three companies were fined around €31 million following their confession.

While under investigation during this first hearing, Conserve Italia had no charges levied against them during the previous settlement, and the investigation against them has been ongoing for a little over a year.

The EC has announced they have informed the Italian food makers of its preliminary finding. 

In a statement made following the news, the EC said: "The Commission has concerns that Conserve Italia may have colluded with other market participants within the European Economic Area to fix selling prices, share markets and allocate customers for the supply of certain types of canned vegetables (under own brands or under private labels) to retailers and/or food service companies.

"The Commission suspects that Conserve Italia has participated in horizontal price-fixing and market sharing agreements, through which they coordinated their commercial conduct with other market participants for several consecutive years."

 A statement of objections is the first formal step the Commission take when investigating suspected violations of EU rules regarding restrictive business practices. They must legally inform all parties involved of the objection made against them and allow them to investigate all documents and files involved in the proceedings, reply in writing and request an oral hearing to present their case before representatives of the Commission and national competition authorities.

If the Commission finds there is enough evidence to suggest an infringement, they can impose a fine for as much as 10% of the company's annual turnover.

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