"price fixing" news and stories

Ahh, Passover. With the first night's Seder behind us, we have that pleasant full-of-matzo feeling (not to mention a vague Concord grape-wine hangover). We stumble into the kitchen and realize that, breakfast options being what they are during this leavening-free week, we're going to need some more kosher-for-Passover cereal. And you know what? It's gonna cost us. You can call Passover food stale, tasteless and even unhealthy -- and you definitely can't call it a bargain.

This is, of course, not exactly news. In fact, it was twenty years ago that Manischewitz, probably the most famous purveyor of matzo and other Passover foods, was hit with a fine of $1 million for allegedly engaging in price fixing with its competitors (notably Streit's and Horowitz, which Manischewitz later acquired). But as Benyamin Cohen points out on Slate, not much has changed since the early 1990s. It's still commonplace to find Passover staples (cereal, jelly, tuna) selling for triple the price of their goyische counterparts.

"Oh my god! They want how much for that piece of chocolate?!?!"

I'm not sure how many of us have actually stood indignantly in a grocery store aisle screaming the above statement since a Hershey bar is usually under a dollar, but if you have, you might be justified.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the US Justice Department is looking into possible price fixing in the chocolate industry. The Justice Department's anti-trust division has contacted Mars (makers of M&Ms and, duh, Mars Bars), Nestle, and Cadbury. Representatives from both Mars and Nestle said they will cooperate with the investigation, though a Cadbury spokeswoman had no comment.

Damn! And I love those Cadbury Creme Eggs at Easter, too!

Source

Today's New York Times features a story about the sudden rises in noodle prices in the city of Lanzhou, China. Apparently noodle shops all over the city raised the prices of their bowls of noodles, prompting public outrage and investigations that eventually lead to allegations of price fixing among a few shop owners. According to the NYT, a local paper also reported that the shop owners involved threatened other noodle makers into compliance with the price jumps. Most of the noodle shops in the city seem to be complying with the several-cent hike, which, in the impoverished region, is a significant one.

[Photo: Du Bin, NYT]