Golden Blue Files Complaint Against Fair Trade Commission Over 'Carlsberg'... "Unilateral Contract Termination"

Report of Unfair Trade Practices Such as Transaction Suspension Using Superior Position

Golden Blue announced on the 7th that it filed a complaint against the Carlsberg Group with the Fair Trade Commission on the 5th for violating the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. This comes about four months after receiving a unilateral notice of distribution contract termination from the Carlsberg Group in March.

Golden Blue pointed out that since the start of the contract, the Carlsberg Group has continuously engaged in unfair trade practices by abusing its superior bargaining position to impose excessive sales targets and mandatory purchases. In particular, it explained that the operating expenses Golden Blue incurred for the Carlsberg brand from 2018 to 2021 over four years amounted to approximately 50% of the total net sales.

Furthermore, it emphasized that the Carlsberg Group’s unjust and unilateral refusal to trade caused serious damage, effectively rendering the human and material investments made by Golden Blue worthless. Golden Blue explained that while distributing the Carlsberg brand, it invested substantial costs over the past four years based on trust in a long-term partnership promise, including hiring a significant number of personnel and establishing the B&S (Beer and Spirits) headquarters.

A Golden Blue official stated, "This complaint to the Fair Trade Commission is the minimum defense measure a small domestic company can take against a global corporation," adding, "Using its superior position to give false hope about contract renewal while secretly preparing to terminate the existing contract by establishing a domestic corporation for direct distribution is a clear act of disregarding domestic companies and blatant abuse of power by a multinational corporation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.