So this is how the sausage gets made.
More than 20 German sausage makers on Tuesday were hit with $460 million in fines for price fixing a range of meat products from salami to bratwurst.
Germany’s antitrust authority said that 21 companies, including Nestle subsidiary Herta, schemed as far back as 2003 to push up prices. Eleven companies decided to cooperate with authorities and admit wrongdoing.
The Federal Cartel Office also slapped 33 individuals with penalties in a probe sparked by an anonymous informant.
Cartel office chairman Andreas Mundt said the fines reflected “the large number of companies involved, how long the cartel lasted and the billions made in revenue on the market.”
According to the German meat industry association, prices in the sector rose by 3.4 percent last year and by an even steeper 5.2 percent in 2012.