The National Institute for the Defense of Competition and the Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) is the entity in charge of overseeing the consumers to companies that offer products and services. It is not the first time that the public body assumes this position before companies that are accused of not following due process. On this occasion, the national entity sanctioned Nestlé after admitting a complaint filed in 2022.
Why did Indecopi fine Nestlé?
The Association of Consumers and Users of the Ancash Region (acurea) filed a complaint to the detriment of the Nestlé company in mid-January of last year before the Unfair Competition Control Commission of the indecopi.
In February of the same year, the request was accepted by the Technical Secretariat, who, after carrying out the corresponding investigations, decided to sanction the Swiss company after determining that its product “Maggi Meat Cube 100g” It does not contain meat, but still sells the image on its packaging of a cartoon beef accompanied by a plate with pieces of meat.
How much is the fine that Indecopi imposed on Nestlé?
The company, which is one of the largest in the world in the field of food and beverages, was sanctioned with a fine of 35.94 UIT, amount equivalent to S/173,448.
What did Nestle reply?
After learning of the fine, the company did not take long to issue its defenses, alleging that consumers are aware of what they consume.
“The appearance of the image of a caricatured bovine and a plate of food with pieces of meat does not carry the advertising message that the product has meat as its main ingredient, but that the product is a flavoring and therefore a dish is shown that It has precisely the meat-flavored dressing,” read part of the statement.
“A reasonable consumer would not think that such a small cube contains meat,” they added.
Source: Larepublica
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