AGCM

The Italian Antitrust Authority concluded five preliminary investigations into misleading information about the origin of durum wheat used in the production of durum wheat semolina pasta, disseminated through the labels and company websites of Divella S.p.a. (Divella brand), F.lli De Cecco di Filippo - Fara San Martino S.p.a. (De Cecco brand), Lidl Italia s.r.l. (Italiamo and Combino brands), Margherita Distribuzione S.p.A (formerly Auchan Spa, Passioni brand), and Pastificio Artigiano Cav. Giuseppe Cocco S.r.l. (Cav Giuseppe Cocco brand).

The Authority accepted the commitments submitted by Auchan, Cocco, De Cecco and Divella and made them mandatory. In detail, the commitments consist of changes to the labels and respective sites so as to ensure that the consumer is fully informed, from the very first contact, of the origin (sometimes foreign) of the wheat used in their pasta production. The new information set will make it possible to avoid possible confusion between the origin of the pasta and the origin of the wheat.

The Authority also adopted a decision of a finding of unfair commercial practice by Lidl, which did not submit any commitments during the investigations. The identified commercial practice consists in having deceived consumers about the characteristics of the "Italiamo" and "Combino” branded pasta, by misleading them as to the Italian origin of the raw material. In view of the importance attributed by consumers to information about the origin of raw materials and the spread of the chain’s sales outlets, the Authority therefore imposed a fine of 1 million euro.

Rome, 17 January 2020