70 RETAILER’S OWN BRAND SANDWICHES Fining a well-organised cartel The Autorité handed out fines worth €24.5 million on the three main companies supplying mass-market retailers with sandwiches to be sold under their respective brands. For almost six years, the three companies developed and implemented a plan to share volumes and customers and to agree on prices. A look back at a new cartel dismantled thanks to the leniency procedure, which all 3 companies relied on. ANTICOMPETITIVE FROM "PRICE WARS" TO least, maintain margins by exchanging AGREEMENTS IN THE CONTEXT "NON-AGRESSION PACTS" strategic and confidential information on the OF RESPONSES TO CALLS FOR main parameters of retailer’s own-brand label TENDER ISSUED BY MASS After a period in 2009-2010 during which thesandwich negotiations with mass-retail dis- RETAIL DISTRIBUTION companies competed fiercely on price, each tribution." trying to gain market share from the Mass-market food retailers (Carrefour, mass-market food retailers, the three com- Casino, Leclerc, Lidl, Système U, etc.), andpanies - Roland Monterrat, La Toque Ange- THE SOPHISTICATED service stations generally use call for ten-vine (hereinafter "LTA") and Snacking ORGANISATION OF PRICE AND der procedures to obtain supplies of indus-Services (hereinafter "Daunat") concluded CUSTOMER DISCUSSIONS trial sandwiches sold under retailer’s owna "non-aggression pact" at the end of 2010 brand labels. to put an end to what they described as a Discussions took place during "secret and "price war". This pact was intended to freeze informal" encounters (lunches, dinners, It was to respond to these calls for tenderthe respective positions of each side. Accor-meetings) and, on a more regular basis, that the three manufacturers set up a sys-ding to the former CEO of Roland Monterrat, during telephone calls or by text messages tem of secret consultation enabling them to"the non-aggression pact would lead to mar-or emails, sometimes sent to and from distort competition. ket sharing as it had been at the end of 2010non-business email addresses. and the neutralisation ofprice-based com- In practice, they each sent their draft prices petition". Daunat explained that the three to their competitors by email before respon- manufacturers wished to "crystallise the ding to calls for tender from mass-market retai- positions of the operators and, at the verylers and, to a lesser extent, service stations. O D S • C O N S U M E R G O O D S • C O N TROPER LAUNNA 0202 – erutuf evitisop erom a gniretsoF S U M E R G O