Antitrust, investigation launched against Balocco for Ferragni designer pandoro: unfair commercial practice contested

The Competition and Market Guarantor Authority has launched an investigation against Balocco Industria Dolciaria for alleged unfair commercial practice in relation to the commercial initiative “Chiara Ferragni and Balocco together for the Regina Margherita hospital in Turin” promoted between November and December 2022. According to the Antitrust, the way in which the initiative was presented could mislead consumers who could think of contributing to the donation to the hospital. Instead, the company had already decided on the amount regardless of the trend in sales of the product.

The Antitrust recalls that between November and December 2022 Balocco put on sale limited edition pandoro “branded” Ferragni, to support research on osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma in favor of the Regina Margherita Hospital in Turin. According to the Authority, both in the press releases and on the pandoro packaging, the way in which the initiative was presented could mislead consumers by leveraging their sensitivity to charitable initiatives with a social background. Consumers, in fact, could be led to believe that by purchasing Ferragni’s “designer” pandoro they were contributing to the donation for the purchase of a new machine, while Balocco had arranged a fixed amount donation in favor of the hospital several months before the advertising launch of the initiative and therefore completely independently of the sales trend of the product.

Today the Authority’s officials carried out inspections in the offices of Balocco Industria Dolciaria with the help of the Special Antitrust Unit of the Guardia di Finanza.