*This text is taken from the Hellenic Competition Commission’s (HCC) contribution to the OECD 2021 Roundtable “Economic analysis and evidence in abuse cases”
Decision 520/2011 concerning the salty snacks market in Greece
The case concerned two complaints alleging that the company Tasty SA had implemented a targeted policy on a systematic basis, seeking to exclude its competitors from the market by means of exclusivity and discrimination.
In the course of the ensuing investigation, the HCC gathered an extensive set of data from the dawn raid which took place at Tasty’s premises and from several information requests addressed to competitors and customers, with a view to establishing whether Tasty held a dominant position on the market and whether it had engaged in anti-competitive practices. Extensive economic analysis was also conducted for the purpose of defining the relevant product market, after the submission of economic reports and testimony by both Tasty and the complainant.
In particular, the quantitative tests performed and thoroughly discussed in the context of the market definition were a SSNIP test, critical loss analysis, price correlation analysis and cointegration analysis (see paras. 95-105 of the Decision). The HCC assessed the economic analyses brought forward by the company and, without however performing additional quantitative tests, dismissed them and adopted a narrower market definition.
The company under investigation also submitted an AEC test but the HCC dismissed it as irrelevant in the circumstances of the case (see paras. 317-324 of the Decision).
The Administrative Court of Athens, which heard the case on appeal (Decision 869/2013) upheld the HCC’s analysis.