On 21 August, the Norwegian Competition Appeal Board upheld the decision by the Norwegian Competition Authority to impose administrative fines on three grocery chains for their illegal collusion. The decision was upheld in its entirety, including administrative fines totalling 4.9 billion Norwegian kroner. (about 60 billion Icelandic krónur). The matter concerns the grocery chains Coop, Norgesgruppen and Rema, which together have a combined share of approximately 95.1% of the Norwegian grocery market.
The consultation consisted of collecting price information.
The infringements consisted of the extensive mutual collection by the grocery chains of information on grocery pricing from competitors, which was used internally for pricing decisions.
The background to the matter was that ACNielsen in Norway stopped passing on information about the pricing of groceries between the chains, after the Norwegian competition authority had pointed out that such information exchange could harm competition and breach competition law. Subsequently, the grocery chains in question entered into an agreement on price comparisons, which included, amongst other things, mutual visits to each other's stores for the purpose of collecting price information. The companies also agreed on the detailed arrangements for the collection of price information, which involved the electronic scanning of prices in the chains' stores. This mutual information gathering was later further expanded by the companies.
The Norwegian Appeal Board confirms fines and the seriousness of offences
Í Decision of the Norwegian Committee It is noted, among other things, that the information gathering gave each grocery chain the certainty that its competitors would react quickly to price changes. Price reductions would therefore be unlikely to be effective, due to the competitors' quick reactions. Price increases, however, would be more likely to be effective, as the competitors tended to respond to them with their own increases.
The Appeal Board concluded that the collaboration was likely to raise the price of groceries, to the detriment of Norwegian consumers for the long term.
It is important that Icelandic grocery stores familiarise themselves with the findings and evaluate their own performance.
In recent years, the Competition Authority has warned that companies in this country and their trade associations share information between competitors regarding pricing and pricing plans, see e.g. instructions page the Competition Authority and most recently in notification on the authority's website, dated 18 December 2024. The exchange of price information between Byko and Húsasmiðjunnar was then considered to constitute serious infringements, see. Ruling of the Supreme Court of Iceland in case no. 42/2019.
Background information on the investigation by the Norwegian competition authorities:
Governments in various countries, including Norway, have in recent years increased funding for competition surveillance in the grocery market in order to prevent future price rises.
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