ID :
194988
Thu, 07/14/2011 - 09:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/194988
The shortlink copeid
Two dairy firms fined for coffee price fixing
SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Thursday that it fined the nation's two major dairy companies a combined 12.8 billion won (US$12.1 million) for colluding to fix prices for their coffee products.
Maeil Dairies Co. and Namyang Dairy Products Co. were slapped with fines of 5.4 billion won and 7.4 billion won each for rigging prices on their cup coffee products, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
Cup coffees are pre-packaged cups of coffee drinks often sold at convenience stores in South Korea.
The two dairies held a total of five rounds of covert meetings in 2007 and decided to jointly raise the prices of their "Caffe Latte" and "French Cafe" brand cup coffees by 20 percent from 1,000 won to 1,200 won, the FTC said.
Maeil Dairies hiked its Caffe Latte prices in March 2007, and Namyang increased its French Cafe prices four months later in July in a bid to avoid raising suspicion of price fixing, it added.
The two companies were also found to have sought joint price hikes again in 2009 but failed to do so as they could not iron out their differences on when to do so.
Along with the penalties, the watchdog said that it referred two executives from each dairy company to the prosecution for investigation. They are suspected of being involved in price-fixing negotiations.
South Korea's cup coffee market was estimated at 183 billion won last year in terms of total sales. Namyang led the market with a 40.4 percent share, followed by Maeil with 35.1 percent.
Maeil Dairies Co. and Namyang Dairy Products Co. were slapped with fines of 5.4 billion won and 7.4 billion won each for rigging prices on their cup coffee products, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
Cup coffees are pre-packaged cups of coffee drinks often sold at convenience stores in South Korea.
The two dairies held a total of five rounds of covert meetings in 2007 and decided to jointly raise the prices of their "Caffe Latte" and "French Cafe" brand cup coffees by 20 percent from 1,000 won to 1,200 won, the FTC said.
Maeil Dairies hiked its Caffe Latte prices in March 2007, and Namyang increased its French Cafe prices four months later in July in a bid to avoid raising suspicion of price fixing, it added.
The two companies were also found to have sought joint price hikes again in 2009 but failed to do so as they could not iron out their differences on when to do so.
Along with the penalties, the watchdog said that it referred two executives from each dairy company to the prosecution for investigation. They are suspected of being involved in price-fixing negotiations.
South Korea's cup coffee market was estimated at 183 billion won last year in terms of total sales. Namyang led the market with a 40.4 percent share, followed by Maeil with 35.1 percent.
