Ferrero targeted in EU antitrust raids 

The raids took place at sites in two EU nations

Ferrero Group, the maker of the chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella, was the target of European Union antitrust raids this week, according to people familiar with the probe. Picture: Denis Minihane.

Ferrero Group, the maker of the chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella, was the target of European Union antitrust raids this week, according to people familiar with the probe.

The European Commission said on April 13 that it had carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of a leading chocolate confectionery company, which it didn’t name, over concerns it may have breached the bloc’s cartel and abuse of dominance rules.

The raids — which took place at sites in two EU nations — targeted the Italian confectionery giant led by billionaire Giovanni Ferrero — according to people familiar with the matter who spoke under condition of anonymity. Ferrero didn’t respond to emails requesting comment. The EU commission declined to comment.

The Brussels-based Commission has said the investigation into the unnamed company focuses on whether the confectioner restricted the trade of its goods between EU nations, otherwise known as the practice of territorial supply constraints.

EU raids are a preliminary investigatory step into suspected anticompetitive practices. Fines for breaching these rules can be as high as 10% of global revenue, but seldom reach those levels.

The low-profile Giovanni Ferrero has led Italy’s richest family since the 2015 death of his father Michele, who popularized Nutella and transformed Ferrero — started as a pastry shop in the country’s northwest — into one of Europe’s largest candy manufacturers. Ferrero's Irish headquarters are based at Ballycurreen Industrial Estate at the Kinsale Road in Cork.

Giovanni Ferrero has prioritised US acquisitions in a decade-long expansion drive that’s doubled revenue and made the company the world’s third-largest maker of sweet packaged foods.

Bloomberg