Coca-Cola recently stopped deliveries from Edeka because the grocer rejected calls for higher prices. First of all, a court forbids the beverage manufacturer to stop delivery – in order to lift the injunction again.
In the dispute between the beverage manufacturer Coca-Cola and Edeka over purchase prices, the grocer lost out. The Hamburg Regional Court lifted the preliminary injunction of September 8th and in its judgment rejected Edeka’s demand for a ban on delivery, as a court spokesman said.
In the opinion of the chamber responsible for commercial matters, Edeka was not able to demonstrate with sufficient credibility that the prices charged by Coca-Cola differ significantly from those that would most likely result from effective competition. The comparison of the percentage price increases made by Edeka with a view to a competitor of Coca-Cola and the comparison with the price development on the market for beer and mixed beer drinks is not sufficient for this.
In addition, there is no so-called reason for disposal, i.e. a very special urgency, for the food retailer, which would justify forcing Coca-Cola to continue delivery under the previous conditions. Because while Coca-Cola would not have the possibility of a later subsequent claim if the delivery was continued under the previous conditions, Edeka could very well demand back an allegedly excessive price afterwards, the court spokesman explained. At the beginning of September, when the temporary injunction was issued, the court saw the situation differently and prohibited Coca-Cola from stopping deliveries.
The beverage manufacturer had previously stopped supplying Germany’s largest grocer because Edeka had rejected demands for higher prices. At that time, the court had assumed that Coca-Cola was abusing a dominant position in the market by setting the price and enforcing it with the help of a delivery stop and was displaying anti-trust behavior.
