MOndelēz, maker of Oreo cookies and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, was fined $336 million (337.5 euros) by the European Commission for violating laws relating to cross-border sales. Mondelēz was found to have engaged in 22 different cases of anti-competitive practices, including refusing to supply distributors and brokers in several EU countries so that products could be sold at higher prices.
“In today’s decision, we conclude that Mondelēz illegally limited cross-border sales across the EU. Mondelēz did this to maintain higher prices for its products, to the detriment of consumers,” said Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s executive vice-president responsible for competition policy. said in one declaration On thursday.
The incidents occurred between 2006 and 2020 in all EU markets. In one incident, Mondelēz reportedly refused to supply chocolate bars to the Netherlands because it feared that these chocolate bars could be resold in Belgium, where Mondelēz was already selling them at higher prices.
In other incidents reported in the statement, Mondelēz imposed limitations that prevented seven wholesale customers from reselling products in several territories. A contract signed between Mondelēz and a wholesaler even included a provision that required wholesalers to sell exports at higher prices than domestic sales.
The European Commission calculated the fine for Mondelēz’s behavior based on the value of sales lost due to anti-competitive practices and the severity and duration of the violations.
In an emailed statement to TIME, Mondelēz said the incidents do not reflect the company’s culture. “This historic issue does not represent who we are and the strong culture of compliance we strive for. At Mondelēz International, we place the utmost emphasis on integrity and respect for the laws of the countries in which we operate,” said the spokesperson. “We are firmly committed to the highest standards of compliance and take our responsibility to our colleagues, customers, distributors and consumers very seriously.”
They also alleged that Mondelēz representatives were not present in some of the negotiations that resulted in the anti-competitive actions.
“Many of these incidents were related to commercial negotiations with brokers, which are typically conducted through sporadic and often one-off sales, and a limited number of small-scale distributors developing new business in EU markets in which Mondelēz is not present or does not commercialize their products. This represents a very limited part of Mondelēz International’s European business,” the spokesperson said.
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