Bundeskartellamt initiates abuse proceedings against Coca-Cola

The Bundeskartellamt has today initiated abuse proceedings against Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Deutschland GmbH (Coca-Cola). Coca-Cola is responsible for bottling and distributing all the beverage brands owned by The Coca-Cola Company in Germany.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “There are indications of Coca-Cola possibly restricting the opportunities of other companies to compete based on how it structures its terms offered to German food retailers, in particular its rebate structure. We will now take a closer look at this.”

In the administrative proceedings, the Bundeskartellamt will first scrutinise whether Coca-Cola has a dominant position or relative market power in a possible market for cola beverages or carbonated soft drinks and is therefore subject to special competition law rules for dominant companies. The authority will also investigate whether the terms imposed by Coca-Cola on German food retailers are in line with these rules. In particular, the authority will investigate whether Coca-Cola’s rebate structure legitimately or illegitimately creates incentives for food retailers to buy, display and advertise the full range of beverages offered by Coca-Cola (e.g. Fanta, Sprite, Mezzo Mix, ViO, fuzetea, Powerade) and not just cola beverages. The terms in question could have the effect of restricting other beverage producers competing with Coca-Cola in their opportunities to compete in neighbouring markets as well.

The Bundeskartellamt is now investigating this by requesting information from food retailers and companies in the beverage sector as well as from Coca-Cola itself. Coca-Cola is free to comment in detail on all the points outlined above.