AAP
February 21, 2012
A BOUTIQUE coffee supplier has accused Australia’s largest coffee company of anti-competitive conduct.
Di Bella Coffee has gone to the competition watchdog over what it says is an aggressive incentive campaign by coffee giant Vittoria.
In a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Brisbane-based Di Bella says Vittoria is offering its customers huge incentives, including up to a year of free coffee, to switch suppliers.
Di Bella argues customers who accept the incentives may be locked into damaging long-term contracts.
“We do not believe Vittoria is properly explaining the conditions and consequences for customers signing up for long-term supply contracts,” the owner and founder of Di Bella Coffee, Phillip Di Bella, said in a statement today.
“We will be strongly pursuing whatever legal channels necessary to have Vittoria fully disclose all conditions and consequences of their offers to customers, in particular whether they have built into their contract pricing recoupment of the value of the incentives they are offering.
“We believe these actions are highly unfair and uncompetitive and put a huge Australian industry at risk.”
Mr Di Bella said it was a “classic example of a hugely resourced company trying to stamp out competition”.
Comment was being sought from Vittoria.
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