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The Court of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) sentenced this Tuesday (16/10) Unilever, owner of the Kibon brand, to pay R$ 29.4 million for harming free competition by signing exclusive contracts in the market for ice creams.
Since 2006, the council had been investigating conduct that may have prevented competitors from accessing the impulse ice cream market at points of sale (POS) in municipalities in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
According to the administrative process, there B2B Lead were indications that the company had offered discounts and bonuses to locations in exchange for exclusive sales, merchandising or use of refrigerators.
Cade also identified contracts imposing on points of sale the obligation to sell a minimum quantity of products under penalty of fine and refund of the amount advanced upon signing the contract.
According to the case's rapporteur, João Paulo de Resende, the practices have the potential to harm free competition. "The points of sale subject to the conduct are precisely those that concentrate the largest volume of sales for companies, located in strategic points", he explained.
For Resende, the requirement for freezer exclusivity , for example, not linked to the payment of any bonus, has economic rationality and should not be restricted.
Regarding other types of exclusivity (sales, merchandising and minimum turnover), Cade has already taken a position that, if the company has a dominant position, this conduct has the potential to close the market and/or create barriers to the entry of rivals. .
Lawyer José Del Chiaro, who represented the company whose complaint gave rise to the case, celebrates the decision. According to him, "Cade sends a correct signal to the market that exclusives must be banned.”
Nestlé
Nestlé was also a defendant, but Cade shelved the case because it understood that it was not possible to assert that the company had a dominant position. With information from Cade’s Press Office. |
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