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Authorities in Japan have launched an investigation into six major ice cream firms following raids conducted over allegations of colluding to raise prices.
Six of the country's leading ice cream companies are suspected of colluding to drive up prices, a source familiar with the matter told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday.
According to the unnamed source, company executives allegedly used emails and face-to-face meetings over several years to coordinate the timing and scale of the price hikes.
Officials from the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), the national antitrust regulatory body enforcing anti-monopoly laws, searched the head offices of Meiji Co., Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Lotte Co., Ezaki Glico Co., Morinaga & Co., and Akagi Nyugyo Co. on Tuesday, according to company officials and the source.
Since 2022, ice cream companies have raised retail prices every year at around the same time, local media reported.
The JFTC is also investigating whether the companies took advantage of inflation to raise prices beyond what was justified by a spike in raw ingredient costs, according to Kyodo News.
Five of the companies issued statements confirming their offices had been raided by the JFTC. They said they "would cooperate with the investigation."
Natsuyo Suzuki of Akagi Nyugo also confirmed to AFP that the firm would work with the investigators following an "on-site inspection."
If the JFTC concludes that there was a cartel, the antitrust watchdog will order the firms to improve their business practices and pay a fine.
In the fiscal year ending in March, ice cream sales in Japan hit a record high of more than 660 billion yen, according to the Japan Ice Cream Association, as the country sweltered through its hottest summer since records began in 1989.
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