Two of the retailers find for fixing the price of milk, butter and cheese in the UK have received “inadequate” fines, according to a local business organisation.
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Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s and Asda, alongside fellow retailer Safeway and three dairy firms, were fined up to GBP116m (US$237.3m) after admitting price-fixing during 2002 and 2003.
The Forum for Private Business said the fines were “a drop in the ocean” compared to the retailers’ profits.
“An opportunity has been missed to make them stop and think about the way they do business,” said FPB policy representative Matthew Goodman. “If nothing else, though, it proves that they do not really have their customers’ interests at heart, despite their claims to the contrary.”
The UK’s competition watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading, has estimated that the collusion cost UK consumers some GBP270m.
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By GlobalDataHowever, Sainsbury’s and Asda both said they looked to fix prices to help cash-strapped farmers.
Sainsbury’s expressed “disappointment” at the company’s GBP26m fine for its role in the affair.
Chief executive Justin King said the company had been “penalised for actions that were intended to help British farmers”.
King said: “The price initiatives in 2002 and 2003, which were widely and publicly reported at the time, were designed to help British dairy farmers at a time of considerable economic pressure and public debate about whether farmers were getting a fair price for their products.”
Asda said it had “regrets” but added: “Our intention was to provide more money for dairy farmers, who were under severe financial pressure at the time.”
