Report: FTC Probing Southern Glazer’s And Alcohol Industry Pricing Practices

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an antitrust investigation into top drinks distributor Southern Glazer’s and the industry’s wider pricing and sales practices, Politico reports. Citing unnamed sources, the report says the agency is looking to determine whether Southern Glazer’s has violated the Robinson-Patman Act by offering larger retailers better pricing than smaller competitors, examining a wide range of practices relating to bulk discounts, rebates, promotions, marketing, and other areas.

It’s also investigating potential anticompetitive practices by the company that would fall under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The inquiry comes following last fall’s class action case brought against Southern Glazer’s by a group of independent California retailers alleging unfair pricing.

More broadly, Politico reports that the FTC is conducting a wide-scale inquiry into alcohol sales by distributors and retailers around the country, in line with its more aggressive regulatory stance of recent years. The FTC has a similar pricing case open in the soft drink industry involving Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Last year, the Treasury Department issued a report urging the Justice Department and FTC to “vigorously enforce the antitrust laws, while continuing to examine their approach to horizontal consolidation and to evaluate the effectiveness of their remedies in the alcohol markets.”—Daniel Marsteller

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