French authorities have fined the country's top
yogurt makers 192m euros (£136m; $204m) for engaging in a price-fixing cartel
for six years.
Eleven firms - representing 90% of France's yogurt makers - were
involved in price-fixing behaviour.
The collusion was first reported by Yoplait, which received no fines
for bringing proof of the cartel's existence to authorities.
Some firms are appealing against the fines.
In a statement, Lactalis - which received the largest penalty of 56.1m
euros - said it obeyed all laws and that the fines "overestimate in an
obvious way the gravity of what happened, and their impact on the
economy".
Laiterie de Saint Malo, which was fined 300,000 euros, said it would
appeal against the charges.
The other companies are Senagral, Novandie, Les Maitres Laitiers du
Cotentin, Alsace Lait, Laita, Yeo Frais and Laiterie H Triballat.
The
ruling found that the 11 firms colluded on how and when to drive up prices
- and by what amount - for six years, from 2006 to 2012.
According to the complaint, yogurt executives came together in secret
via dedicated phone numbers, and through meetings in hotels and even in a
famous Parisian cafe called Le Chien qui Fume.
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