Il Nuovo Postiglione - Japan puts the heat on suspected ice cream cartel

Among the country's biggest ice cream firms, the six "are suspected of colluding" to hike prices, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Wednesday.

Company officials are thought to have sent emails or met up for years to coordinate the timing and size of hikes, the unnamed source said.

Officials from the the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) searched the head offices on Tuesday of Meiji Co., Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Lotte Co., Ezaki Glico Co., Morinaga & Co., and Akagi Nyugyo Co., according to company officials and the source.

Since around 2022, the 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 on Tuesday or on Wednesday saying their offices had been raided by the JFTC and that they "would cooperate with the investigation".

Natsuyo Suzuki of Akagi Nyugo also confirmed to AFP that the firm would work with 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.

T.Cusumano--INP