JOHANNESBURG - The Competition Commission said on Friday that South African coffee producer, Caffeluxe, has agreed to pay an administrative penalty totaling R750,000 for price fixing.
Secret River Trading, trading as Caffelux, admitted to fixing the prices of coffee capsules to retail customers and thereby contravening the Competition Act, the commission said.
The agreement emanates from a commission investigation launched in 2015, in relation to a discount offered by another company, Global Coffee, in Checkers stores in 2014.
Caffeluxe had threatened not to supply Global Coffee with capsules unless it increased its price to an agreed shelf price. The investigation found that between 2013 and May 2014, Global Coffee was precluded from undercutting Caffeluxe when selling coffee capsules.