Supervalu Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the nations largest chocolate makers, accusing them of conspiring to fix prices from 2002 until at least 2008.
The antitrust lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, names The Hershey Co., Nestle USA Inc., Mars Inc., Cadbury PLC and several of their affiliated companies as defendants. Those companies combine to control 76 percent of the U.S. market for chocolate candy products.
According to the suit, the defendants entered into a conspiracy not to compete in the sale of chocolate candy products in order to combat a slowing market for such products. As a result, Supervalu said it was overcharged for chocolate made by those companies despite what it said was a stable market for cocoa beans and surgar, and a fluctuating market for milk.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal
