Pembe Flours Mills Ltd is under investigation by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) for alleged abuse of buyer power.

The probe comes after Britania Foods Ltd filed a complaint with the Competition Authority over payment delays.

“A complaint on alleged abuse of buyer power by Britania Foods Ltd through delays in payment,” CAK says in its 2021-22 Annual Financial Report.

Unilever was penalised by CAK at the start of this year for misusing its supplier negotiating leverage.

CAK charged the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company with influencing the prices and the number of products sold.

CAK looked into fifty (50) cases, a 35 per cent increase from the prior year.

Retail, manufacturing, insurance, agriculture, telecommunications, construction, distribution, and the arts were all topics of the cases.

Of these, 26 instances were resolved, and different remedies were used as prescribed by Sections 36 and 38 of the Act.

At the end of the year under report, twenty-four (24) instances were still being looked into.

“Investigations are ongoing.”
Buyer power is where a big company has bargaining power over its suppliers.