DALLAS, TEXAS — Dairy production giant Suiza Foods Corp. said it has resolved an antitrust investigation conducted by the attorneys general from the six New England states.
According to reports, the impetus for the investigation which began in March 2000 was a long-standing supply agreement between Suiza and Stop & Shop Stores, and an agreement to sell certain Stop & Shop dairy assets to Suiza.
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The settlement allows Suiza to continue to sell dairy products to all of Stop & Shop’s New England stores, reports said. However, Stop & Shop must sell its dairy processing assets in Readville, Mass. to a company other than Suiza.
The settlement also bars the two companies from agreeing to prevent the sale of dairy products by Stop & Shop to Suiza competitors, reports said.
Earlier this month, West Lynn Creamery, Inc., one of the many dairy businesses owned by Dallas-based Suiza, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to a tax scheme involving selling dairy products at inflated prices in exchange for unreported rebates. Although Suiza did not own West Lynn Creamery at the time of the scheme, the guilty plea could cost it $7.2 million.
During the past four years, Suiza has acquired the local dairy businesses Nature’s Best (of Cranston, R.I.), Cumberland Farms (of Canton, Mass.) and Garelick Farms (of Franklin, Mass.) The company acquired West Lynn Creamery, based in West Lynn, Mass., in 1998.
