At the end of 2009, Germany’s anti-trust regulator fined coffee roasters Tchibo, Melitta Kaffee and Alois Dallmayr Kaffee OHG and six managers at the firms a total of €159.5 million (US$229 million) for price fixing.
The companies set up a cartel which the regulator said had fixed prices for coffee beans, espresso, and filtered coffee.
The Bonn-based Federal Cartel Office said the cartel had existed since the beginning of 2000 and continued to operate until the companies’ offices were raided in 2008.
The three companies can appeal against the fines if they wish.