US supermarket chain Giant Eagle has told just-food that it is suing some of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers over allegations of price fixing.
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“We have filed a lawsuit,” the retailer told just-food over the weekend. “Due to the ongoing nature of the lawsuit we cannot comment further.”
According to the federal lawsuit, filed in Pittsburgh, Giant Eagle has accused the likes of Mars, Hershey, Nestle and Cadbury of forming an “international conspiracy” to fix the prices on more than US$200m of chocolate products over the last five years.
The supermarket operator said that these companies, along with eight other defendants, violated anti-trust laws by conspiring in their price increases between 2002 and 2007.
In the filing, Giant Eagle said candy prices charged by Nestle, Mars and Hershey – who collectively control about 80% of the US chocolate market – increased on average 16% between December 2004 and March 2005.
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By GlobalDataHowever, the supermarket claimed, there was no evidence of increased production costs.
This is the latest in a string of suits filed against confectionery companies and comes as pricing in the confectionery market has come increasingly under the microscope.
The US Justice Department began an inquiry into how chocolate makers in the country set prices in January.
Meanwhile, last December, Canada’s Competition Bureau served warrants on several major manufacturers, including Hershey and Mars, requiring them to surrender information on their pricing policies.
