Laundry detergent cartel do the dirty – fined $18 million

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Laundry detergent cartel do the dirty – fined $18 million

8 yrs ago

Colgate-Palmolive has been fined $18 million having been found guilty of conspiring to manipulate the laundry detergent market with two rivals and supermarket Woolworths.

Colgate entered into an agreement with competitors Unilever and Cussons in 2008-09 to phase out standard concentrated laundry detergents and to bring in ultra concentrates. All parties stood to significantly profit from the arrangement due to ulta concentrates being cheaper to make, store and transport. All parties agreed to not pass on the savings.

When a similar change from standard concentrated laundry detergents to ultra concentrates occurred in New Zealand, consumers enjoyed discounts which saw them paying the price of a smaller pack for that of a larger pack.

Unilever tipped off the competition watchdog and received immunity under the ACCC's Immunity Policy for Cartel Conduct.

10 comments

$18 million is around one tenth of the extra profit they made. Our corporate watchdog rules are useless.

catsahoy

8 yrs ago

this is only the tip of the iceberg, if you look at ANYTHING that comes in packets you will see that the content has shrunk, look at breakfast cereal for one, buy this huge box, and when you shske the contents down, its about a third full, BUT still the same price, if you look at chocolate, the weight has gone down, but the price hasnt, even canned goods, the amout of content is less than 12 months ago, i noticed it with tinned tomatoes, a reciepe i make calls for a 480g og tin, that was the size it was made in, so no trouble, now ,the same sized tin only holds 450g, same price as before, but 30g light, we are taken to the cleaners by all the manufactures,

cranky

8 yrs ago

It's the good old fashioned favourite the "Mars bar" that has been on a diet cats...

When I was a child my grandmother bought one for us kids and cutting it with a large knife it took a fair amount of elbow grease to literally chop it up,and we all got a decent size chunk., now one bite and it's gone.

But it's a sign of the times with everything that sits on the supermarket shelf,

We could boycott the washing powder I guess....but after a while we would have no clean clothes....and no friends ..!

johninmelb

8 yrs ago

None of this stuff is new. It has been going on for years, and we have all complained about it.

Now we are just rehashing it again!!

It will make no difference. You have the buy stuff, manufacturers know it, so end of discussion.

IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY, DON'T BUY IT. If enough people stop buying, then the message will hit home. Whinging on this site changes nothing.

Incidently, the rubbish about the cereal boxes has been dragged up time and time again. WE DO NOT BUY CEREAL BY THE SIZE OF THE BOX, WE BUY IT BY WEIGHT.

EG. I buy a Ikg box of Uncle Toby's Oats. The size of the box is irrelevant.

It all comes out in the wash.

Australia the land where crooks do prosper and benefit thanks to a supportive government.

Frankly

8 yrs ago

It's scary seeing how big multinationals have become. Take shaving, Procter & Gamble has a world monopoly consumers can only vote with their wallets and go back to basics. This means eating unprocessed food and using natural cleaning products. Your body will thank you and you end up with more money in your pocket. The choice is ours....

My choice? Don't shave.

Daisy

8 yrs ago

Yes it would probably do us all good to get back to basics.

Daisy

8 yrs ago

When I was a kid sunlight soap was used in the bathroom for all cleansing, including hair washing. It was also used in the laundry along with solvol soap for tough stains. Life was simple then.

PlanB

8 yrs ago

I still use the Sunlight laundry soap for showering and hand washing and sometimes washing up, I was also using Dynamo but will try something else now after this greedy trick.

I do not buy Cadbury anymore it has also shrunk AND is Halal

Plan B, you purchase very prudently. Keep up the good shopping.

What IS Halal chocolate? And what's wrong with it?

Abby

8 yrs ago

Yes I agree with you Plan B

We pay for Halal relgious extorsion for which animals have to suffer

and our politicians and the companies are not listening .. they just shrink the packaging to pay for the Halal ..WE PAY

Further Halal certification has become a many tentacled octopus, reaching into virtually every area of our lives. Farmers are being forced to pay a halal certification fee for the grass the animals eat. Then a fee for the animals to be transported in halal certified vehicles. In many cases, even the drivers must be muslims now, as they are the only ones who are trusted by muslims to maintain the halal conditions. Slaughter houses pay. Packaging companies pay. Food processors pay. And finally, WE pay

http://www.restoreaustralia.org.au/newsletters/buy-and-return-halal/

Abby - please find a reliable, indepndent site that proves your claims about Halal certification. That one is anything but. It makes your claims look nonsensical.

Abby

8 yrs ago

The Australian consumer pays Halal for all these products

http://www.halalsquare.com.au/groceries/index.php/brands/cadbury.html

The industries shortchange the weight to make up for the religious extorsion for cover their profit... WE PAY

Please prove that claim, and disprove Cadbury's claim of "a passionate commitment to making everyone feel happy".

Abby, you are so right. Those who purchase Halal-certified products are financially subsidising the Islamic beliefs, and if the government doesn't WAKE UP we will ALL be subsidising it with our freedom - and in EVERY way WE WILL PAY!

LOL

It's amazing how many innocent threads here turn into Muslim hating ones.

Maybe I'll start a special thread just for the Muslim haters to post all the unsourced anti-Muslim "facts" they know.

johninmelb

8 yrs ago

But you are quite happy to pay extra for the Kosher certification on food, which is almost identical to Halal.

Talk about nonsensical rubbish.

I've been buying meat from the Halal butcher at the Dandenong Market for a year or more. Great tasting quality fresh meat, and costs me less than anywhere else. And, for some strange reason, it hasn't poisoned me. How does that work?

And don't give me any rubbish about animal cruelty because you already know our laws regarding meat slaughter in Australia. Don't bother pretending otherwise.

catsahoy

8 yrs ago

Comment removed