Four companies that grow and process carrots have been fined a total of €2.5 million for forming an illegal cartel, the Dutch competition authority ACM said on Thursday.

The four firms – Laarakker, VanRijsingen, Veco and Verduyn – had illegally divided up sales to frozen and preserved food firms in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium since 2008 the ACM said. The deal also included financial compensation for Veco from the other three. 

Officials found details of the 10-year agreement on paper following a raid on company premises in 2021. The page detailed the way the market was to be divided up, with Laarakker, VanRijsingen and Verduyn focusing on washed carrots, known as waspeen in Dutch.   

Veco, by contrast, concentrated on the Paris carrot, a stronger tasting, round root vegetable widely used in food processing. The other three firms agreed not to grow, process or sell the carrots, which are particularly popular in Germany and to pay Veco €90,000 a year for excluding it from the waspeen market.

In the wake of the raid Laarakker and Verduyn admitted their role in the cartel. In return, both companies were given a lower fine. 

The ACM said it could not say if the cartel had led to artificially high prices for carrots. “But in general, you can say this sort of lack of competition leads to less innovation and higher prices,” a spokesman told broadcaster NOS.