HB frozen out by European Court

HB Ice Cream’s attempts to freeze out competition by barring access to company supplied in-store fridges to competitors has been blocked by the European Court of First Instance.

The court ruled that Unilever's HB Ice Cream will have to share the freezers it uses to display ice cream products in Irish stores with competitors.

The Court of First Instance ruling was a victory for the European Commission, which in 1998 held that Van den Bergh Foods company HB was taking advantage of the fact that its freezers were the only ones for ice cream bought on impulse in 40% of shops.