According to CCTV Finance on May 24th, citing a report by CNN on the 23rd, the manufacturer of several well-known food brands, including Oreo and Cadbury, Yizi International, was fined 337.5 million euros (approximately 2.64 billion yuan) in the European market.
Margaret Vestager, the European Commission's Commissioner for Competition Affairs, stated in a statement on the same day that it was discovered that Yizi International had illegally restricted the trade of its chocolate, cookies, and coffee among EU member states, resulting in related products maintaining high prices in some countries. "This case is about food prices. This is a key issue for European citizens, especially when inflation is very high, especially when many people are in a cost of living crisis."
Reuters reported that the European Commission has stated that Yizi International has participated in anti competitive transactions and abused its dominant position, violating EU antitrust laws. After Yizi International admitted its mistake, the fine imposed on the company was reduced by 15%. The European Commission stated that from 2012 to 2019, Yizi International restricted seven wholesale customers from reselling its products to regions or customers, and prevented 10 exclusive distributors in some EU countries from responding to sales requests from other EU country customers between 2006 and 2020.
According to reports, the European Commission began investigating this case in 2019 and officially launched an investigation in 2021. The survey results show that Yizi International has prevented retailers from freely purchasing between EU member states at lower prices. The European Commission believes that this behavior is illegal and harms the interests of consumers in EU countries such as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Romania, where chocolate bars and other products are relatively expensive.