Competition cases in beer, snacks markets near end
Two cases that have been investigated by the Competition Committee — for different reasons — are of particular importance for the efficient functioning of the market and are close to being decided upon.
The decisions, relating to the snacks and beer markets, are considered to be of significance in and out of Greece.
The first one relates to claims by Tsakiris AVEE (which belongs to Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling) being made against Tasty Foods ABGE (a subsidiary of PepsiCo). According to the claims, Tasty Foods has been shutting out competitors from smaller sales points such as kiosks and corner stores for about 10 years. It did this at a retail and wholesale level, according to the claims being investigated by the competitions watchdog.
The importance of this case is indicated by the fact that the two companies have called in their top legal and economic experts from Greece and abroad on competition issues.
The second case relates to Athenian Brewery (a member of the Heineken group), and claims made against it by rival Mythos Brewery (which belong to Carlsberg). An end to this particular legal marathon may arise in May.
