The Competition Commission announced on Tuesday that Pioneer Food Group (PFG) has informed it of having started with the implementation of price reductions on bread and flour as per the settlement agreement reached on November 30 2010.
The price of standard white and brown loaves of bread was reduced by an average of 30c on December 3 2010. This price reduction is in addition to any other promotional discount to retailers.
The price of flour was reduced by an average of R350 per ton as from December 10.
Pioneer’s pricing commitment in terms of the settlement agreement amounts to a reduction of R160-million in its gross profit when benchmarked against a similar period in the previous year.
Pioneer will submit progress reports to the commission every second month, and Price Waterhouse Coopers will review and confirm the attainment of the price-reduction commitment.
“The commission has engaged with large supermarket chains on passing on price reductions to end-consumers. The commission will also independently monitor the retail and wholesale prices of flour and bread products,” the antirust body said in a statement — I-Net Bridge