Authorities uncover decade-long berry industry cartel

Finland’s Competition and Consumer Authority has proposed fines of more than €9 million against major berry industry companies after uncovering what officials described as a long-running nationwide cartel that affected wild berry prices for a decade. The authority, known as KKV, said five of the country’s largest wild berry companies coordinated the prices paid to berry pickers between 2013 and 2023 while also exchanging commercially sensitive market information linked to frozen berry sales.