Foodecommerce continues to grow. But some of its protagonists indulge in violating consumer protection rules.
GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade) has submitted numerous reports over the years to the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM, so-called Antitrust Authority) and the Central Inspectorate for Quality Protection and Fraud Repression (ICQRF). In vain, by all accounts. Since still some large operators – Everli and Carrefour – (un)qualify by displaying on their sites out-of-bounds prices and labels that have already been sanctioned as misleading.
Everli ecommerce, high prices
Everli’s most blatant deception concerns price. An identical product, Granarolo’s ‘Oggi puoi’ mozzarella, appears to cost half as much on the everli site as on the Easycoop site (€4.65/kg vs. €9.97/kg). But the news is false, since Everli calculates the unit price not only on the weight of the mozzarella cheese-as prescribed by the Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/05, Art.15.3)-but also on the weight of the preserving liquid.
The bin is relentlessly replicated on all the mozzarellas in the catalog. Fault or intent, the operator in this way deceives the consumer and practices unfair competition against its competitor (in this case Easycoop), whose prices thus appear almost double Everli’s distorted prices.
Price indication, current rules
The sale of pre-packaged food to the final consumer is subject, under the Consumer Code, to the indication of two prices:
– the selling price. That is, ‘the final price, valid for a unit of the productor for a specific quantity of the product, including VAT and any other taxes.’
– the price per unit of measurement. That is, ‘the final price, including VAT and all other taxes, valid for a quantity of one kilogram, one liter (…)’ (1,2).
‘For pre-packagedfood products immersed in a preserving liquid, including frozen or deep-frozen, the unit price refers to the net weight of the drained product‘ (Legislative Decree 206/05, Art.15.3).
Unit price, meaning and penalties
The mandatory unit price display is intended to ‘improve consumer information and facilitate price comparison‘ on ‘products offered by traders to consumers.’ It must therefore also be displayed in all forms of advertising, including flyers, where the price per unit of sale is reported (Legislative Decree 206/05, Art.14).
The omission or inaccurate indication of the unit price is subject to a specific administrative fine ranging from 516.46 euros to 3098.74 euros. (3) However, its serial repetition can also be considered under additional aspects of illegitimacy.
Carrefour ecommerce, deceptive labels
Instead, Carrefour’s website looks like a time machine, or rather a broken clock. Where in the catalog it displays a Galatine candy label that is no longer officially used by the manufacturer Sperlari, following censure for deceptiveness by the IAP (Institute for Advertising Self-Discipline).
The label in question is misleading both in boasting the false presence of‘80% milk‘ and in referring to ‘natural ingredients.’ And that is why the GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade) website in 2017 had submitted the report to the IAP. (4) Nevertheless, Carrefour continues to offer this deception to consumers. Oversight or cleverness, own or in competition with Sperlari?
Update to Antitrust
Everli (formerly Supermercato24), Carrefour and Conad had already been reported by GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade) to the Antitrust Authority in May 2020 for violating consumer information requirements on food products. Also in May, the Égalité association denounced Carrefour’s unfair trade practices in post-purchase price changes to the Guarantor Authority.
In July 2020, GIFT denounced other unfair business practices of Everli (formerly Supermarket24), Carrefour and Conad for the recurrent omission of essential information on food products displayed for sale on their ecommerce sites. Moral suasion was clearly not enough. We therefore update the Supervisory Authority so that online distributors will be urged to comply with current regulations.
Dario Dongo and Marta Strinati
Notes
(1) Legislative Decree. 206/05 as amended, so-called Consumer Code. Article 13.1
(2) ‘The unit price need not be indicated when it is identical to the selling price‘ (Legislative Decree 206/05, Article 14.2). Other exemptions are defined in Article 16 below
(3) Legislative Decree. 206/05, Article 17.1. Legislative Decree. 114/98(Reform of regulations relating to the trade sector), Art. 22.3
(4) The report regarding the Galatines’ deception had also been submitted to the Antitrust Authority, which, however, curiously, did not even consider the assessments already made by the IAP. V. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/milk-sounding-via-libera-dall-antitrust
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
