{"id":265378,"date":"2025-11-12T12:03:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T13:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=265378"},"modified":"2025-11-12T15:03:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:03:12","slug":"wholsaler-challenges-johnson-johnsons-new-distribution-model-at-competition-tribunal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/wholsaler-challenges-johnson-johnsons-new-distribution-model-at-competition-tribunal\/","title":{"rendered":"Wholsaler challenges Johnson & Johnson\u2019s new distribution model at Competition Tribunal"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

Local personal care and household products wholesaler, Continental Cash <\/span>&<\/span> Carry says its sales declined after big supplier for the industry, Johnson <\/span>&<\/span> Johnson changed its distribution model to a new one that now requires wholesalers to through intermediaries.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Competition Tribunal heard submissions from Continental Cash <\/span>&<\/span> Carry as well as from Johnson <\/span>&<\/span> Johnson on Wednesday. Continental Cash <\/span>&<\/span> Carry accuses Johnson & Johnson of price discrimination arising from the shift in its distribution model to intermediaries opposed to the previous arrangement whereby wholesalers would buy directly from the supplier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Continental Cash <\/span>&<\/span> Carry<\/span> <\/span>said <\/span>demand for its entire personal care segment <\/span>had been growing <\/span>considerably year on year until <\/span>Johnson & Johnson changed its distribution model.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cT<\/span>he discrimination impedes Continental’s ability to effectively participate.<\/span> T<\/span>he adverse effects relates not only to continental’s inability to sell J&J products, but it’s undermined its position in the broader personal care segment, regarding the direct effect of the discrimination,<\/span>\u201d a representative for Continental told the Tribunal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Continental is seeking a draft order from the Tribunal compelling Johnson & Johnson to supply products including baby wipes, baby oil, mouthwash, aqueous creams and petroleum jelly among others f<\/span>or the period of 6 months or until conclusion of<\/span> the case being heard by the Competition Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company is also seeking terms of supply from Johnson & Johnson that are \u201c<\/span>no less favorable on to the average terms of supply to Shop<\/span>rite, Pick n Pay and Massmart\u201d which are <\/span>entities that Continental competes <\/span>against.<\/span><\/p>\n

Continental Cash & Carry argued that there is no <\/span>basis for <\/span>it and other historically disadvantaged persons in the same sector to be required to <\/span>to compete at <\/span>a <\/span>structural disadvantage <\/span>imposed against <\/span>against modern trade wholesalers.<\/span><\/p>\n

In its papers before the Tribunal, Kenvue <\/span>which holds Johnson & Johnson\u2019s care products, <\/span>argues that Continental\u2019s interim relief application is aimed at securing a commercial advantage to which it is not entitled. It maintains that the new distribution model will not harm Continental\u2019s ability to compete effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Continental argued on Wednesday that the<\/span> magnitude of the price differential<\/span> between it and other modern wholesalers who include supermarkets is \u201csignificant\u201d. It said m<\/span>odern trade<\/span>rs<\/span> <\/span>receives<\/span> discounts of almost double<\/span> th<\/span>ose offered to continental, while <\/span>others get <\/span>triple discounts offered to continental.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Then in relation to the significance of the cost structure,  we say that <\/span>C<\/span>ontinental continentals cost of sales constitute a high proportion of its total cost. It’s as high as 97%.<\/span>\u201d<\/span> \u2029<\/span><\/p>\n

Legal representatives argued that according to local regulations, \u201c<\/span>an action by a dominant firm, as the seller of goods or services, <\/span>(constitutes) <\/span>price discrimination, if it’s likely to impede the ability of SMEs or HDP firms to participate<\/span>\u201d<\/span> effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Our case, from the outset, has been, there’s an artificial distinction<\/span>\u2026 i<\/span>t involves splitting customers into two. The one is a traditional trade channel. The other one is called the modern trade, and then beneficial terms are extended to the latter<\/span>,\u201d noted the legal representatives in a presentation at the Competition Tribunal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such statutes had been put in place <\/span>to provide SMEs and <\/span>other black owned competitors w<\/span>ith <\/span>a <\/span>fair opportunity to participate in the economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the new distribution model by Johnson &Johnson created a <\/span>playing field <\/span>that was <\/span>skewed<\/span> as <\/span>modern trade<\/span>rs who receive supplies from the company get \u201cm<\/span>uch better terms than the traditional<\/span>\u201d<\/span> trade<\/span>rs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, <\/span>wholesalers that fall into each of those categories <\/span>were direct competitors on the market. This created a situation where all players in the modern trade continued to <\/span>enjoy an undue advantage of everyone in the traditional trade.<\/span><\/p>\n

BUSINESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local personal care and household products wholesaler, Continental Cash\u00a0&\u00a0Carry says its sales declined after big supplier for the industry, Johnson\u00a0&\u00a0Johnson changed its distribution model to a new one that now requires wholesalers to through intermediaries.The Competition Tribunal heard submissions from Continental Cash\u00a0&\u00a0Carry as well as from Johnson\u00a0&\u00a0Johnson on Wednesday. Continental Cash\u00a0&\u00a0Carry accuses Johnson & Johnson of price discrimination arising from the shift in its distribution model to intermediaries opposed to the previous arrangement whereby wholesalers would buy directly from the supplier.Continental Cash\u00a0&\u00a0Carry\u00a0said\u00a0demand for its entire personal care segment\u00a0had been growing\u00a0considerably year on year until\u00a0Johnson & Johnson changed its distribution model.\u201cThe discrimination impedes Continental’s ability to effectively participate.\u00a0The adverse effects relates not only to continental’s inability to sell J&J products, but it’s undermined its position in the broader personal care segment, regarding the direct effect of the discrimination,\u201d a representative for Continental told the Tribunal.Continental is seeking a draft order from the Tribunal compelling Johnson & Johnson to supply products including baby wipes, baby oil, mouthwash, aqueous creams and petroleum jelly among others for the period of 6 months or until conclusion of\u00a0the case being heard by the Competition Commission.The company is also seeking terms of supply from Johnson & Johnson that are \u201cno less favorable on to the average terms of supply to Shoprite, Pick n Pay and Massmart\u201d which are\u00a0entities that Continental competes\u00a0against.Continental Cash & Carry argued that there is no\u00a0basis for\u00a0it and other historically disadvantaged persons in the same sector to be required to\u00a0to compete at\u00a0a\u00a0structural disadvantage\u00a0imposed against\u00a0against modern trade wholesalers.In its papers before the Tribunal, Kenvue\u00a0which holds Johnson & Johnson\u2019s care products,\u00a0argues that Continental\u2019s interim relief application is aimed at securing a commercial advantage to which it is not entitled. It maintains that the new distribution model will not harm Continental\u2019s ability to compete effectively.However, Continental argued on Wednesday that the\u00a0magnitude of the price differential\u00a0between it and other modern wholesalers who include supermarkets is \u201csignificant\u201d. It said modern traders\u00a0receives\u00a0discounts of almost double\u00a0those offered to continental, while\u00a0others get\u00a0triple discounts offered to continental.\u201cThen in relation to the significance of the cost structure,\u00a0 we say that Continental continentals cost of sales constitute a high proportion of its total cost. It’s as high as 97%.\u201d\u00a0\u2029Legal representatives argued that according to local regulations, \u201can action by a dominant firm, as the seller of goods or services,\u00a0(constitutes)\u00a0price discrimination, if it’s likely to impede the ability of SMEs or HDP firms to participate\u201d\u00a0effectively.\u201cOur case, from the outset, has been, there’s an artificial distinction\u2026 it involves splitting customers into two. The one is a traditional trade channel. The other one is called the modern trade, and then beneficial terms are extended to the latter,\u201d noted the legal representatives in a presentation at the Competition Tribunal.Such statutes had been put in place\u00a0to provide SMEs and\u00a0other black owned competitors with\u00a0a\u00a0fair opportunity to participate in the economy.Nonetheless, the new distribution model by Johnson &Johnson created a\u00a0playing field\u00a0that was\u00a0skewed\u00a0as\u00a0modern traders who receive supplies from the company get \u201cmuch better terms than the traditional\u201d\u00a0traders.Moreover,\u00a0wholesalers that fall into each of those categories\u00a0were direct competitors on the market. This created a situation where all players in the modern trade continued to\u00a0enjoy an undue advantage of everyone in the traditional trade.BUSINESS REPORT<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265378"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265380,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265378\/revisions\/265380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}