Arla Foods charged with abusing position

24/03/05 Denmark’s Public Prosecutor for Serious Economic Crime has charged Arla Foods with abusing its dominant position in the Danish market, claiming that Arla Foods offered the wholesaler, Metro Denmark, financial inducements for severing its links with the Hirtshals Dairy. The Public Prosecutor demands that Arla Foods be fined. Arla notes that of the original eight accusations in the case, the company has now been charged with one.

The prosecution service claims that, in the autumn of 2003, Metro Denmark asked its suppliers, including Arla Foods, to contribute to marketing activities in connection with the chain’s 40th anniversary. Arla Foods responded by contributing DKK 200,000.

The Public Prosecutor for Serious Economic Crime has now decided that this played a role in Metro Denmark’s decision to cancel its contract with Hirtshals Dairy in October 2003.

Arla Foods said that it denies the charges. “Arla Foods internal review shows that the matter is neither obvious nor clear-cut,” said Arla Foods’ legal adviser, Erik Bertelsen, from the law firm Kromann Reumert. “We believe Arla Foods has complied with all legal requirements and we intend to fight the case vigorously.”