Gulating Court of Appeal Begins Major Price-Fixing Trial of Norway's Grocery Giants

On Monday morning, the Gulating Court of Appeal convened a ten-week trial to examine whether Kiwi, Rema 1000 and Coop illegally coordinated price-monitoring efforts. Judge Beate Blom briefed the parties on the courtroom procedures and warned that portions of the hearing will be private. The dispute centers on a “price-hunter” system, where staff from each chain entered rival stores to record prices, a practice the chains claim is standard market behavior.

Regulators contend that, since 2011, the chains maintained written agreements that regulated this activity, giving them an undue overview of each other's pricing and harming competition. The state maintains that the cooperation enabled the chains to push prices upward, contrary to the chains’ claim that it benefits consumers. Over the next ten weeks, the court will decide which side’s arguments prevail.