Turkish Competition Authority fines US snack giant Frito Lay $35M

The Turkish Competition Authority has decided to impose a fine of approximately ₺1.3 billion ($35.89 million) on U.S.-based Frito Lay for violating the competition law by making it difficult for competitors in the packaged chips sector to operate, obstructing their sales, and excluding them from the market to protect competition.

According to a statement on the Competition Authority’s website, the investigation conducted by the board to determine whether Frito Lay has violated the Turkish Competition Protection Law by hindering the activities of its competitors in the packaged chips sector has been completed.

The statement indicated that the company was found to engage in practices aimed at obstructing the sales of its competitors at sales points such as grocery stores, markets, and kiosks where packaged chips are sold.

Measures taken against Frito Lay to protect competition

The statement highlighted that the decision is significant for sales points with an area of less than 200 square meters (2152.8 square feet), emphasizing that certain obligations were imposed on Frito Lay.

In this context, it was explained in the statement that in sales points where there are no competitor stands, 30% of Frito Lay stands will be allocated for competitor products visibly and vertically separated by a separator, with a readable label stating ‘This section is reserved for competitor chip products’ on each shelf.

• Each section will be divided by a separator, and the ‘This section is reserved for competitor chip products’ label will be visible on each shelf.
• In cases where competitor products are not available or out of stock for any reason, the section allocated for competitor products will remain empty and will not be filled with Frito Lay products.
• No guidance targeting the presence and visibility of competitor products will be made at sales points.
• Frito Lay will be allowed to place a maximum of one chip stand in sales points.
• Apart from standard purchasing transactions, financial benefits will not be provided to retail sales points.
• The introduction of competitor products into sales points will increase the choices offered to consumers.