Brussels, 22/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 18 October 2007, the European Commission approved the creation of a joint venture between the French companies, Bongrain and Sodiaal, soft cheese producers, which want to pool their know-how as regards producing and marketing Camembert, Coulommiers and Brie cheese. Bongrain (owner of the Caprice des Dieux brand, which is not concerned by this operation) is contributing its Cœur de Lion brand, while Sodiaal is transferring its Le Rustique brand. As well as these manufacturer brands, the joint venture will also include the production of Camembert, Coulommiers and Brie sold under retailer brands.
Cultural differences require different ways of dividing up the market in the various member states. As regards the French and Belgian markets, the market investigation showed that consumers are very sensitive to types of cheese and that any price increase on manufacturer-brand Camembert would lead consumers to move over to retailer-brand Camembert rather than to manufacturer-brand Coulommiers or brie. German consumers, however, do not generally distinguish between Camembert and Brie. A more general market definition therefore seems justified for Germany. The Commission has reached similar conclusions for Austria, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. The Commission therefore decided to carry out two market investigations, one of the French and Belgian market and another of the Germany, Austrian, Hungarian, Polish and Czech markets.
In the French and Belgian manufacturer-brand Camembert markets, the Commission study showed that the new joint venture would still be behind the current market leader, Lactalis, and that their brands are not currently in direct competition. Similar observations in other manufacturer-brand product markets in France and Belgium, together with the competitive pressure exerted by retail brands, have led the Commission to conclude that there are no competition problems in these markets. As regards Belgian and French retail-brand markets, reducing the number of independent players should have only limited effect, given that other important players are also present and that the two parties specialise in different market sectors. Finally, the merger will not have any significant effect in the other countries, given Sodiaal's marginal commercial presence there. (C.D.)