1. Supermarket price fixing
This task would make a good lesson starter for your Year 10 Business Studies class. Perhaps hand out the article to read for homework and then begin the next lesson in small groups with the discussion questions.
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Supermarket price fixing
Image by Mike Wade. Used with permission
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2. Control of monopolies group task – supermarket price fixing
BBC article
Control of monopolies group task – supermarket price fixing
Guardian article
What are the supermarkets accused of doing?
Price fixing – secretly agreeing prices of dairy products
Why would the supermarkets want to do this?
Higher profits –by agreeing to raise prices together they know that they won’t be undercut by competitors
Significance of the UK milk prices table
Shows that prices paid to farmers haven’t increased but shop prices have – so supermarkets are working together to increase their profits
Punishment?
Consumers have apparently lost £270m so this should presumably be the minimum total fine
According to the Office of Fair Trading Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's colluded to fix the price of dairy products (20 September 2007)
Read the articles and discuss these questions:
What has the OFT accused the supermarkets of doing?
Why would the supermarkets want to do this?
Explain the significance of the table of UK milk prices in the BBC article
What punishment do you think the supermarkets should be given?
Image by Jim Broughton. Used with permission *
© easilyinteractive.com 2007

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