Fragrance firms face coordinated cartel probe

The world’s four largest flavour and fragrance firms were raided on 7 March as part of an investigation by competition authorities from the UK, US, EU and Switzerland. Swiss firms Givaudan and Firmenich; Symrise of Germany; and International Flavors and Fragrances of the US – which together control about 60% of the market – are being investigated under suspicion of anticompetitive behaviour.

The Swiss Competition Commission confirmed that ‘There are suspicions that these undertakings have coordinated their pricing policy, prohibited their competitors from supplying certain customers and limited the production of certain fragrances.’ All four firms have stated that they are cooperating with the investigation, while the authorities stress that ‘no assumptions should be made about whether competition law has been broken’ until the investigation reaches a conclusion.