Last month, Canadian regulators began an investigation into allegations of price-fixing involving Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY), Cadbury Schweppes PLC (NYSE: CSG) Mars Inc. and Nestlé SA (VTX: NESN).
Now our own Justice Department is looking into the issue as well. Chocolatiers have been battling with surging dairy prices and there have been allegations that various firms colluded to fix prices. Ontario's Superior Court of Justice has granted search warrants for the above candy makers, but no charges have been filed.
According (subscription required) to the Wall Street Journal, "It isn't clear precisely what the Justice Department is looking into or whether the preliminary inquiry will become a formal criminal investigation. Price fixing can be a serious offense, leading to heavy fines and, in some cases, jail terms for executives."
The legal issues aside, does anyone really think that lack of access to affordable chocolate is a serious problem in the United States? Judging from The US of A's collective waistline, a little price fixing and consumer gouging could do our body mass indexes a bit of good.
Justice Department probes chocolate makers
Posted Dec 21st 2007 12:33PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Law, Scandals, Hershey Co (HSY)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-21-2007 @ 9:31PM
Hugh Doyle said...
I believe Hershey(HSY) is a great buy. At this point in time, $1.20 dividend a share is nothing to sneeze at.
The stock is one of its lowest points in years. The recent drop can be blamed on the restructuring of the company which will cut costs in the future.
It is a traditional, well known American company which has been ignored by investors recently, but is a great buy for the long term.