Price fixing allegations continue to tarnish the food sector

摘要

ECONOMIES OF SCALE BENEFIT BOTH customers and consumers alike with improved efficiencies and lower prices. But the benefits may be corrupted, and recent convictions for price fixing in the packaged seafood industry and allegations of the practice in the US chicken industry undermine the benefits earned through strategic and operational superiority. The cases shine a spotlight on corruption that goes to the highest levels of some businesses or is embedded within organizations beyond detection with established internal controls. In the packaged seafood category, the corruption brought down Bumble Bee Foods and damaged the reputation of StarKist Co., the category's two largest competitors.