The dispute between The Real Good Food Company (RFGC) and British Sugar should be resolved by early July, British Baker has learned.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is handling the complaint by RFGC, is still considering the issue and gathering information from the two companies.
Earlier this year, Napier Brown, the refining sugar arm of RFGC, made a complaint “alleging an abuse of a dominant position by British Sugar”, to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
RFGC subsequently warned that the ongoing dispute would hurt its underlying profits.
Details of the row were first reported on 22 February when RFGC said “there would be a significant impact on the company’s results for the 12 months” ended last March.
As the matter remains unresolved, RFGC expects its EBITDA to be approximately £3.3m for this period.
Maintain structure
Pieter Totté, the group’s executive chairman, said: “The CMA needs to act in order to maintain a competitive structure in the UK sugar market.”
While the complaint is still under review by the CMA, Andrew Brown, the group’s brand and marketing director, told British Baker: “We are not expecting anything until a final decision is made. We have provided the CMA with all the necessary information and we believe we are in a very strong place.”
Neither the RFGC nor the CMA were able to provide more information about the nature of the dispute with British Sugar.
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