Plaintiffs, that include confectioners, wholesalers and consumers, accuse the chocolate companies of conspiring to fix the prices of chocolate products in the US.
The class action suit alleges the chocolate firms - that together control about 75 per cent of the US chocolate confectionery market - entered pricing agreements, which resulted in coordinated price increases on three occasions between 2002 and 2007.
Further, Wexler Wallace law firm that is representing 'direct purchasers of chocolate from the major manufacturers' states the case alleges the defendants "conspired to raise, fix, maintain, peg, or stabilise the prices of chocolate from January 1, 2002 through the present in violation of the Sherman Act and Clayton Antitrust Act".
But in a memorandum issued last week by Pennsylvania federal judge Christopher Conner he stated the defendants could appeal his decision to the third circuit Court of Appeals.
Defendants argue the amended complaints fail “to raise a plausible inference of an agreement to fix prices as required by Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007).”
Defendants have filed motions to dismiss the complaints under Rule 12(b)(6) of the federal rules of civil procedure.
Defendants' market shares
According to the judge's memo, US chocolate firm Hershey dominates the US chocolate confectionery market, supplying more than 40 per cent of chocolate products sold in this US market.
US chocolate giant Mars has a 26 per cent slice of the US chocolate confectionery market, while the world's largest food and drink firm, Swiss-based Nestle, controls 8 per cent of the US market.
Defendant Cadbury, also labelled in the judge's memo as a "titan" in worldwide chocolate markets is the corporate parent of ‘defendant Cadbury Holdings and defendant Cadbury Adams Canada.’ In the US, Hershey global distributes Cadbury-branded products under license agreements with Cadbury Holdings and Cadbury plc.