Four Aldi Suppliers Face Court Action Over Australian Vegetable Price Fixing

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has initiated federal court proceedings against four fresh vegetable suppliers and three senior executives for alleged cartel conduct involving price fixing while supplying key vegetables to Aldi stores in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland from 2018 to 2024. The vegetables implicated include broccoli, cauliflower, iceberg lettuce, cucumber, Brussels sprouts, and zucchini. The suppliers under investigation are Perfection Fresh Australia, Hydro Produce, Veli Velisha Fresh Produce and Velisha National Farms, and M. Fragapane & Sons, with executives such as Catherine Velisha, Kaushik Vora, and Roberto Nave also named. The ACCC emphasized that cartel conduct, which involves businesses agreeing to fix prices rather than compete, is illegal and harms consumers by driving up prices and restricting fair competition. Aldi itself is not accused of any wrongdoing in this case. Severe penalties apply for such conduct, including fines up to $50 million for businesses and $2.5 million for individuals if the conduct occurred after November 2022.