COMPETITION COMMISSION ALLEGATIONS
RSA Group denies collusion in fresh produce sector
CEO Jaco Oosthuizen says the Competition Commission crackdown on fresh-produce groups is based on ‘a number of misconceptions about the market’
The RSA Group has moved to quash allegations by the Competition Commission that it, along with eight other fresh-produce groups, has been fixing prices in order to squeeze out smaller rivals. CEO of RSA Jaco Oosthuizen said on Thursday he believed the allegations were based on "a number of misconceptions as to how the markets operate". The commission alleges that RSA Group, Botha Roodt, Subtropico, Dapper, DW Fresh Produce, Farmers Trust, Noordvaal, Marco Fresh and Wenpro have been involved in prohibited co-ordinated activities aimed at undercutting the prices charged by smaller intermediaries by charging way below the market price for certain agreed periods of a trading day. The agents serve as fresh-produce market intermediaries between farmers and buyers of fruit and vegetables. Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele said the companies in question allegedly kept their prices unsustainably low during certain periods of the day, quickly increasing them by a significant amount as soon as ...
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