Communication
The aim of the protection of market competition is primarily to create benefits for consumers and equal conditions for all entrepreneurs on the market, who, acting in accordance with the existing rules and competing on the market with the quality, price and innovation of their products and services, contribute to the overall development of the economy.
Special offer for apples by PLODINE did not go below the purchase price
The Croatian Competition Agency (CCA) followed the anonymous complaint of 7 September 2018 and carried out an investigation in the apple distribution market and the company Plodine.
The received data, documentation and explanations received showed that Plodine purchases apples from a total of 22 suppliers, seven of them being foreign suppliers and 15 domestic.
The CCA also established that the above specified special offer included only class II apples purchased exclusively from the foreign suppliers.
As opposed to the anonymous complaint, in calculating the retail price the CCA found that the price calculation in question included the associated cost.
Thus, the special offer was solely the result of Plodine’s sales policy its lower gross profit.
By comparison of the publicly available data from the Market Information System in Agriculture and the price under which Plodine purchased apples in the period concerned, it has been established that the price under which Plodine purchased apples did not deviate from the average price of apples on the wholesale markets in Croatia.
In line with the above-mentioned findings the CCA decided that in this concrete case of special offer for apples initiated by the undertaking Plodine in the period from 6 – 12 September 2018 there was no circumstantial evidence to open an administrative proceeding against the undertaking concerned.