Entrepreneur exposes Heineken in dispute against Ambev – 07/25/2023 – Panel SA

The owners of Villa Parnaíba Mall, a small business about to be inaugurated in the interior of Piauí, tried to join as interested parties in the process between the giants Ambev and Heineken at Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense).

In this case, Heineken accuses Ambev of breaking the rules of free enterprise by imposing, via distributors, exclusive contracts with bars, restaurants and concert halls.

Francisco Dantas, one of the owners of Villa Parnaíba, accuses Heineken of having done the same thing by imposing exclusivity. With Cade’s refusal, he considers going to court.

By telephone, he told the column that Heineken is the only brewery in the region. He said that Petrópolis closed a warehouse for not being able to compete with the big companies and that “Brahma (sic) is practically annihilated”.

“We asked for an infrastructure partnership contract with Heineken, but they wanted us to buy beer to have marketing support. We wanted to cover the circulation tents and the food court, without the exclusivity of the beers”, said Dantas.

“Heineken rolled for four months. In the meantime, they closed with a company created after ours, the daughter of a distributor partner, and set up the bar for her”, says the businessman.

Dantas says he made a complaint to Heineken against the distributor that he claims to have benefited his competitor in the city.

Requested confidentiality to avoid a direct conflict. However, the brewery revealed its name, in breach of its own code of business conduct.

“Heineken sent this complaint to the distributor”, said Dantas. “I’m in Piauí and here it’s knife-edge, it was a trick on their part.”

After the episode, Villa Parnaíba Mall contacted Cade with the objective of “expanding an investigation into the economic potential of exclusivity throughout the country”.

Cade has rejected the request twice. The body claims that the company did not demonstrate a link and causality relationship for it to join the process.

“We are not going to proceed, because we are afraid of taking a fine and jeopardizing the business. But we are evaluating a lawsuit in court, raising this debate about the lending contract.”

Sought, Heineken has not responded so far.

With Diego Felix It is Stefanie Rigamonti

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