The European Commission has fined Mondelēz International, Inc. (Mondelēz) €337.5 million for hindering the cross-border trade of chocolate, biscuits and coffee products between Member States, in breach of EU competition rules.
Mondelēz is one of the world’s largest producers of chocolate and biscuit products. The Commission’s investigation found that Mondelēz breached EU competition rules by engaging in anticompetitive agreements or concerted practices aimed at restricting cross-border trade of various chocolate, biscuit and coffee products and abusing its dominant position in specific national markets for the sale of chocolate tablets.
In particular, the Commission found that Mondelēz engaged in twenty-two anticompetitive agreements or concerted practices in breach of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’).
One agreement also included a provision ordering Mondelēz’s customers to charge higher prices for exports than for domestic sales. These agreements and concerted practices occurred between 2012 and 2019 and covered all EU markets.
They prevented ten exclusive distributors active in certain Member States from replying to sale requests from customers in other Member States without prior permission from Mondelēz. These agreements and practices occurred between 2006 and 2020 and covered all the EU markets.
The Commission also found that, between 2015 and 2019, Mondelēz abused its dominant position, in breach of Article 102 of the TFEU, by refusing to supply a broker in Germany to prevent the resale of chocolate tablet products in the higher-priced territories of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Romania.
It was ceasing the supply of chocolate tablet products in the Netherlands to prevent them from being imported into Belgium, where Mondelēz was selling them at higher prices.
The Commission concluded that Mondelēz’s illegal practices prevented retailers from freely sourcing products in Member States with lower prices and artificially partitioned the internal market. Mondelēz’s aim was to avoid that cross-border trade would lead to price decreases in countries with higher prices.
Such illegal practices allowed Mondelēz to continue charging more for its products, to the detriment of consumers in the EU.
The fine was set according to the Commission’s 2006 Guidelines on Fines, considering the gravity and duration of the infringements and the value of Mondelēz’s sales. It also accounted for Mondelēz’s cooperation and granted a 15 percent fine reduction.