Lean diet for the Cooperl. Sentenced to a heavy fine in July, 35 million euros, for an agreement on prices, the French number one in pork claims his innocence. Emmanuel Commault, its director, speaks of a unbearable decision
. It threatens to freeze investments, hiring and lower wages. And casts the shadow of a deep restructuring to save the group
.
The Cooperl, which has 350 million euros in equity, is owned by 2,950 cooperative breeders and employs 7,200 people. In 2019, it achieved a turnover of 2.4 billion euros for a result of 29 million euros.
The Breton cooperative group, which did not call on the loan guaranteed by the State in the context of the Covid crisis, was not alone on the dock. Several big names in the sector have been pinned down by the Haute Autorité de la concurrence in this case: Les Mousquetaires, Fleury Michon, Savencia, Nestlé, Campofrio, Coop, Nestlé …
The Cooperl appeals
A spiral notebook could reverse this decision on appeal, Cooperl hopes. The major piece of the file is a fake
, insists Frédéric Belot the lawyer of Cooperl. This piece of evidence would have been drafted a posteriori by an employee of Campofrio to destabilize his Breton competitor.
In a world where you don’t give yourself freebies, the Cooperl doesn’t want to stop there. She appealed against the decision rendered by the High Competition Authority. And filed a complaint for forgery and use of forgery, slanderous denunciation and fraud in judgment. The objective is also to obtain from the first president of the Court of Appeal a suspension not to pay this fine. The Competition Authority observes for its part that this spiral notebook is not the only element retained to pronounce this sentence.
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