TORONTO — Hershey Canada Inc. faces a fine of US$3.8 million (CA$4 million) after pleading guilty to its role in fixing the price of chocolate confectionery products in Canada.
Canada's Competition Bureau said Friday that the chocolate manufacturer admitted in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice that it conspired, agreed or arranged to fix the price of chocolate confectionery products in Canada in 2007.
The competition bureau says that Hersey also admitted that in 2007 senior employees communicated with employees at Nestlé Canada Inc., Mars Canada Inc. and an independent distributor network to exchange competitively sensitive pricing information about chocolate confectionery products in Canada.
The bureau earlier this month laid criminal charges against Nestle SA's Canada arm, Mars Inc.'s Canada division and ITWAL Ltd., a network of independent wholesale distributors.