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ARTICLE · 20 MAY 2014

Nespresso Offers Commitments To The French Competition Authority In Coffee-Capsule Probe

Van Bael & Bellis
Van Bael & Bellis
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Van Bael & Bellis

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The French Competition Authority announced that Nespresso has offered commitments to end an investigation into allegedly abusive and exclusive practices.

FranceAntitrust/Competition Law
Van Bael Bellis
Van Bael Bellis
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On 17 April 2014, the French Competition Authority (FCA) announced that Nespresso has offered commitments to end an investigation into allegedly abusive and exclusive practices that had the effect of foreclosing competing manufacturers of coffee capsules from Nespresso's coffee machines.

In France, 73% of the capsule-coffee machines were sold by Nespresso and 85% of the capsules compatible with these machines were sold by Nespresso in 2012.

The commitments follow complaints to the FCA by two producers of compatible capsules, D.E. Master Benders and the Ethical Coffee Company, claiming that Nespresso had engaged in anticompetitive practices, including by tying the purchase of its capsules to that of its coffee machines. As a result of the investigation, the FCA reached a preliminary finding that Nespresso's conduct in successively altering the specifications of its coffee machines to make the use of competitors' compatible capsules more difficult, as well as by

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