Portugal’s competition authority, Autoridade da Concorrência (AdC), has carried out searches at 20 grocery retail companies and producers as part of an ongoing investigation.
The news was revealed by AdC president Margarida Matos Rosa, during a hearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Economy.
The searches were conducted at companies in the Greater Lisbon and Greater Porto areas and resulted in the opening of eight inquiries in this sector of activity.
Search Operations
Supermarket chain Pingo Doce, operated by retail group Jerónimo Martins, confirmed to Publico that it was one of the companies targeted. The same source added that the company was collaborating with the investigation, but does not believe that it is targeted in any process.
In May, the AdC had announced that 'the retail sector has been the target of search and seizure operations'. It added that investigations into 'possible restrictions of competition involving suppliers and distributors' and are related to 'practices that directly affect the end-consumer'.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
