In brief
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has provisionally found that large supermarkets and dairy processors have colluded to increase the prices of dairy products, which led to an estimated cost to consumers of £270m. The OFT has issued a statement of objections, setting out its provisional findings, to Asda, Morrisons, Safeway, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, as well as dairy processors Arla Foods, Dairy Crest, Lactalis McLelland, the Cheese Company and Wiseman. It is believed these supermarkets and dairy processors deliberately engaged in fixing the retail prices for milk, butter and cheese by sharing commercially sensitive information in 2002–03.
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