Unilever fined €60m for market abuse
Date: Monday, December 11, 2017
Italy’s antitrust agency said on Wednesday it had fined Unilever’s Italian unit more than €60m (£53m) for abusing its dominant position in the country’s ice cream market.
It said Unilever had abused its position in single-wrapped so-called impulse ice creams, intended for immediate consumption, which it sells through its “Algida” brand. The local unit of the world’s biggest ice cream maker said in a statement it rejected the agency’s conclusion and would appeal.
Italian authorities started the probe in 2013 when a small producer of organic fruit lollies called La Bomba accused Unilever of forcing local retailers not to sell its popsicles.
La Bomba, based in the seaside town of Rimini, said Unilever had struck deals with operators of beach resort, bars and campsites to exclusively sell the bigger firm’s ice creams. La Bomba makes less than €1m a year. Italians ate €5.15bn-worth of ice cream in 2015, according to the antitrust agency, and sales of individually-wrapped treats were worth €780m.
“The market for ice cream (to be consumed) outside the home is a highly competitive one in which artisan and industrial, bulk and packaged products compete for the consumer’s attention in a fragmented landscape that is like no other in Europe,”
Unilever were quoted as saying.
Selling the Magnum, Carte d‘Or and Cornetto ice cream brands as well as other food, home and personal care goods, Unilever makes around €1.4bn a year in Italy. Unilever can appeal the ruling at a regional court.
Recent Posts
- The secret behind the unique tastes and textures of Brue Valley Farm Butter
- Machinery World group celebrates 25 years in business
- New focus for spare parts division of Machinery World
- Meeting Your Homogenisation Needs
- Machinery World Expands Engineering Team Expertise
- Partnering for Productivity
- The perfect recipe for success
- New ROKK Butter Reworking Homogeniser machine launched
- Turning off our blast freezer until summer
- Michael Portillo’s coast path adventure in Cornwall visits ROKK customer, Roskilly’s Ice Cream.
- Why Overrun matters when making soft serve ice cream
- Wishing a Happy Christmas to all our customers and suppliers
- Former pastry chef preps for expansion in the Lakes
- Still standing after all these years
- Buying British doesn’t mean compromising on quality, taste or texture
- It’s a hat-trick as Machinery World customers win all three top ICA awards
- Win £250 at the Ice Cream and Artisan Food Show!
- Scottish ice cream brand Porrelli scoops fresh Asda listing
- Will Taylor from Glastry Farm Ice Cream discusses a no-deal Brexit
- See us at the Ice Cream and Gelato Expo 2019!
- Cheshire farm record a 40% increase in production
- Record breaking times on the Isle of Man
- More recipes for success
- Ice-cream meltdown
- ICA Expo in Harrogate
- Ice Cream that's 500 times hotter than Tabasco
- A recipe for success
- Unilever fined €60m for market abuse
- Ice cream for breakfast can make you more intelligent
- The Museum of ice Cream
- The UK's most expensive ice cream
- Is time up for plain vanilla flavour ice creams?
- Wall’s launches Soft Republic, a ‘disruptor’ soft serve ice cream brand
- Scientists confront the dairy v health myths
- ROKK'in to the beat in Israel!
- Multiple wins at the Ice Cream Awards 2017
- See us at Ice Cream Expo 2017
- The Saffron Ice Cream Company
- Maurilait Productions Ltée, a member of the Eclosia Group
- ROKK Experiences Increase in Orders as Manufacturers Aim to Exceed Consumer Requirements for High-Quality Ice Cream
- ROKK offers the quality needed to infiltrate a monopolised market
- ROKK Processing Expands Range with the Launch of the RIF 1500 Ingredient Feeder
- ROKK's Launches New RFE Continuous Freezer Range
- ROKK Launches New MP1200 Litre Ice Cream Mix Plant
Search Tags
- Award Winning Ice Cream (2)
- Award Winning Ice Cream Machinery (3)
- Award Winning Ice Cream Machines (3)
- Frederick’s Ice Cream (1)
- ICA Expo 2018 (1)
- ICA Expo 2020 (1)
- Ice Cream Awards (1)
- Ice Cream Continuous Freezer (1)
- Ice Cream Machinery (1)
- Ice Cream Machines (1)
- Ice Cream Mix Plant (1)
- Ice Cream Production (2)
- Ingredient Filling Machine (1)
- Machinery World (1)
- Traditional Italian Family Recipe (1)