The cartel is alleged to have coordinated purchase prices for blueberries, lingonberries and cloudberries from berry pickers during the period 2013–2023 and to have exchanged commercially sensitive information about wholesale prices for frozen berries, according to a press release from the authority.
The fines are being imposed on the companies Arctic International, Kaskein Marja, Marja Bothnia Berries and Polarica.
A fifth company in the industry, Kiantama, will avoid fines altogether after it helped the authority uncover the fraud.
The case is being heard by the Market Court in Finland.
