日清食品、カップ麺価格拘束か　公取委が近く警告へ

　日清食品が「カップヌードル」などカップ麺の販売価格を不当に引き上げるよう小売業者に求めていたとして、公正取引委員会が独禁法違反（再販売価格の拘束）の疑いで、近く警告する方針を固めたことが８日、関係者への取材で分かった。
　対象となった商品は、カップヌードルのレギュラーやカレー、シーフード、「日清のどん兵衛きつねうどん」、「日清焼そばＵ．Ｆ．Ｏ．」の五品目。
　関係者によると、日清食品は２０２２年と２３年の２回、引き上げた希望小売価格に合わせて、小売業者に販売価格を値上げするよう強要していた疑いが持たれている。自社商品の値下がりを避ける狙いがあったとみられる。日清食品が価格拘束を小売業者に直接指示したほか、卸業者を介して行われていたケースもあった。（2024/08/08-11:19）

Japan's Fair Trade Commission plans to issue a warning shortly to Nissin Food Products Co. on suspicion of urging retailers to unreasonably raise the sales prices of its Cup Noodle and other instant noodle products in violation of the antimonopoly law, informed sources said Thursday.
   Nissin Food, a unit of Nissin Foods Holdings Co., is suspected of forcing retailers in 2022 and again in 2023 to raise the products' selling prices in line with their suggested retail prices which had been lifted by the food maker, apparently trying to prevent the retail prices of its products from falling, according to the sources.
   The company instructed retailers directly, or through wholesalers in some cases, to raise the prices.
   The sources said Nissin Food explained to retailers that their rival companies were also raising their selling prices and presented a lower limit on the retail prices for special discount sale.
   The FTC believes that consumers lost the opportunity to choose stores offering discount prices and had to buy products that could have been bought cheaper at higher costs, which could constitute a restraint on resale prices prohibited by the law, according to the sources.