The Autorité de la concurrence fines Mariage Frères teas for hindering its distributors’ commercial freedom

Summary:

The Autoritu00e9 de la concurrence, France's competition authority, has imposed a u20ac4 million penalty on Mariage Fru00e8res, a leading premium tea producer, for restricting the commercial freedom of its distributors for nearly 15 years. The company prohibited its distributors from selling its branded products online and reselling them to other retailers, limiting intra-brand competition and partitioning markets. This cartel-like behavior likely restricted distributors' business growth and deprived consumers of better prices due to lack of competition.