Mondelez Fined $366-M For Rigging European Markets

Mondelez, the maker of Oreo and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, has been fined €337.5 million ($366 million) for hindering the trade of chocolate, cookies, and coffee among European Union (EU) countries, Olesya Dmitracova reported for CNN.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, found that Mondelez International (MDLZ) deliberately restricted cross-border trade and abused “its dominant position” in some national markets for the sale of chocolate bars. I Photo: AmCham Bulgaria

“In today’s decision, we find that Mondelez illegally limited cross-border sales across the EU. Mondelez did so to maintain higher prices for its products to the detriment of consumers,” Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, said in a statement.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, found that Mondelez International (MDLZ) deliberately restricted cross-border trade and abused “its dominant position” in some national markets for the sale of chocolate bars.

Among other things, the company had ceased supplying chocolate bars in the Netherlands to prevent them from being imported into Belgium, where Mondelez was selling the same products at higher prices, the Commission said in the statement.

“The Commission concluded that Mondelez’s illegal practices prevented retailers from being able to freely source products in (EU) member states with lower prices,” it added.

A spokesperson for Mondelez International said the penalty related to “isolated incidents, most of which ceased or were remedied well in advance of the Commission’s investigation.”