Italian regulator fines snacks “cartel”

The Italian contention watchdog has fined snack makers Amica Chips, Pata and Preziosi Food for “coordinating” strategies done a cartel.

Announcing the decision, Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) said the companies participated successful a “single, analyzable and continuous” market-sharing agreement.

The regulator fined the companies a combined €23.3m ($27.2m), saying the firms coordinated their respective commercialized strategies successful a determination that violated EU contention rules.

The enactment occurred wrong the marketplace for savoury snacks made for “large-scale” retailers and sold nether backstage label.

None of the 3 snacks makers had responded to Just Food's petition for remark astatine the clip of writing.

Amica Chips and Pata received reduced fines aft providing grounds that was “significant” successful establishing the infringement, the watchdog said successful a statement.

The authorization besides noted it utilized its colony mechanics nether Italian instrumentality for the archetypal time, resulting successful further good reductions for each the companies.

The probe into Amica Chips and Pata was triggered successful 2024 by a whistleblower report, which led to raids connected the companies’ premises.

At the commencement of the probe, the regulator said that, with the assistance of the Special Antitrust Unit of the Guardia di Finanza, it had carried retired inspections astatine the main offices of the 2 firms, arsenic good arsenic different idiosyncratic “believed to beryllium successful possession of elements utile for the investigation”.

The 2 companies “would person coordinated to administer customers among themselves, frankincense keeping prices astatine a supra-competitive level,” AGCM had past said.

"Italian regulator fines snacks “cartel”" was primitively created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand.

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