Jeronimo Martins Polska, the owner of the Biedronka network, was earning unfairly to the detriment of food suppliers, UOKiK announced.
The data collected by the Authority in the course of the proceedings and controls in the offices of this entrepreneur prove that the company was arbitrarily imposing some discounts, mainly for the suppliers of fruit and vegetables.
Thus, only during the three years audited by the Authority, that is: in 2018, 2019 and 2020 – as a result of the challenged practices – the Jeronimo Martins Polska company earned more than PLN 600 million in cooperation with the food sector.
During the period under investigation the prohibited actions affected more than 200 business entities while approximately 80% of the instances pertained to fruit and vegetable supplies.
In marginal cases the value of the unfair discount was exceeding 20% of the entire trading value with Biedronka.
This is the biggest sanction for abusing of superior bargaining power imposed to date.
