Kaufland has to pay millions in fines because food was labeled incorrectly
Created: 01/05/2022, 4:22 PM
From: Valentin Betz
Kaufland has drawn the anger of the local competition authority in Poland.
The discounter has now been fined millions.
© Manuel Geisser / Imago
The discounter Kaufland has to pay a fine in the millions.
Among other things, he violated EU law.
Neckarsulm - It is not only important to many people to start the new year positively and successfully.
Companies are just as interested in it.
Difficult news loomed for Kaufland at the end of last year and will continue in 2022.
It was not until December that it became known that a competitor of Kaufland was planning an offensive in Baden-Württemberg.
In addition, there are changes in the new year that the Neckarsulm discounter cannot control itself.
A lot will change at the legal level at Kaufland and Co. in 2022.
The discounter would already have enough to do to ensure that the new year starts off well.
Now the
food newspaper (LZ)
reports that Kaufland is having trouble with the authorities in Poland.
The allegations weigh heavily - and are likely to cost the company a lot, reports BW24.
Penalty for Kaufland: Polish authorities ask discounters to pay for misconduct
Specifically, it is, among other things, that Kaufland in Poland did not set conditions for the new year in negotiations with suppliers until after the start of the contract period.
So the contracting parties did not know the terms on which they had delivered their goods.
"The company's behavior went against common decency and represented an unfair exploitation of a stronger negotiating position," declared the Polish competition and consumer protection authority UOKiK.
For Kaufland, this procedure does not only result in a warning.
The Polish authorities are demanding fines from the Neckarsulm discounter in two separate proceedings amounting to around 30 million euros.
Kaufland had, for example, retroactively introduced additional discounts in the supplier contracts, which meant that the partners had to pay compensation payments in the millions.
A total of 72 suppliers were affected.
Other discounts were not provided for in contracts - the competition authority is aware of 176 cases in this regard.
Punishment in Poland: Kaufland violates the law
The retroactive changes to the contract were not only encountered by the competition authority in Poland, but also violated a directive of the European Union. What is particularly piquant about the proceedings against Kaufland is that the behavior of the discounter primarily affected small and medium-sized companies as well as farms and producer groups.
After all: Kaufland stopped its misconduct during the investigation against the discounter, which is why the 30 million euro fine already includes a discount.
The Neckarsulm-based company also received a smaller part of the fine for incorrectly identifying the origin of vegetables in Polish branches.
According to the LZ
, Kaufland can still
appeal the decisions.
There is not much hope, however, as the competition authority has already emphasized "that every supplier of agricultural and food products who requests compensation from a dealer for unjustified collection of discounts can count on our support in court".
* BW24 is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
