After 15 months of investigation, the competition authority in Turkey has fined Frito-Lay. The chips and snacks company, owned by PepsiCo, was served a penalty of about 6.5 million euros ($8.6 million) because, this was the outcome of the investigation, it allegedly pressured retailers by preventing them from selling products of rival brands. The company rejects the charges and awaits the reasons for the decision. From the delivery of the document there will be 30 days to pay the fine, but Frito-Lay would be considering an appeal.
The sanction on the U.S. company is a further sign of the alignment, from a global perspective, of competition (and food safety) legislation, between emerging and advanced economies. Rules that are increasingly important in new consumer societies, as the case of China’s infant milk price cartel fine also shows.
