| | |  Business News 
Mexico Launches Probe Into Beer Sale, Distribution
 Cyntia Barrera Diaz - Reuters
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August 10, 2010
Mexico City - Mexico's antitrust watchdog has begun an investigation of the distribution, marketing and sale of beer in the country that will include some of the biggest local players in the industry.
Cofeco, Mexico's competition commission, did not mention names but said it would look into monopolistic practices by market players and distributors, including giving discounts or benefits to merchants to keep them from selling third-party products.
"Some of the most important (beer companies) are involved" in the probe, a Cofeco spokesman told Reuters on Monday.
The commission will ask companies under investigation for information on their sales and inventories, among other items, he added. The first leg of the probe could last up to three months.
Mexico's beer market is dominated by Grupo Modelo and FEMSA Cerveza, the beer unit that beverage and retail company FEMSA sold earlier this year to Dutch brewer Heineken.
Smaller brewers have tapped the Mexican market in recent years. Their artisanal beers have have found their way into bars and restaurants in major cities, but they still struggle to gain access to broader distribution channels due to pressure from industry heavyweights.
Established importers like SABMiller - the world's No. 2 brewer - have also had trouble getting their products into convenience store chains, which often have exclusive distribution deals with stronger local competitors.
Cofeco - which can fine companies for monopolistic practices - started the investigation on a request from an unnamed company that said it was being hurt by such practices, the spokesman said.
Modelo officials could not be reached for comment. FEMSA said it had no immediate comment.
It is not the first time Cofeco has set its eyes on the beverage industry in Mexico.
Last year, the agency investigated charges that major soft-drink makers were offering perks to merchants, like promotional awnings or refrigerators, on condition they only sold their products.
In 2008, Mexico's Supreme Court upheld fines that had been handed out by Cofeco, totaling almost $15 million, against 15 Coca-Cola bottlers and distributors in Mexico on similar charges.
Among the companies then fined was Coca-Cola FEMSA, controlled by FEMSA, and Coca-Cola Co.
(Additional reporting by Gabriela Lopez; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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