Midwest Vending and Beverage Company, Inc. Takes Pepsi and Coke to Court for Unfair Competition.Business Editors FORT WAYNE Fort Wayne, city (1990 pop. 173,072), seat of Allen co., NE Ind., where the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers join to form the Maumee River; inc. 1840. It is the second largest city in the state, a major railroad and shipping point, a wholesale and distribution hub, , Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2001 Martin J. Henry, president of Midwest Vending and Beverage Company, Inc., (MVB MVB Multivesicular Body MVB Magdeburger Verkehrsbetriebe MVB Multifunction Vehicle Bus MVB Multimedia Viewer Book MVB Multifunctional Vehicle Bus MVB Moisture Vapor Barrier MVB Multivibrator MVB Minimum Variance Beamformer MVB MicroVax Business ) a full-line vending machine vending machine, coin-operated, automatic device for selling goods. Many vending machines are capable of making change, and some of the more sophisticated ones accept paper money or credit cards. operator based in Fort Wayne, IN, has filed suit for himself and his company against the local Pepsi Cola and Coke Cola bottlers for engaging in unfair competition tactics. Henry alleges that the bottlers have unlawfully interfered with established business relationships between MVB and several of the vending company's customers and vendors. "Pepsi and Coke have unfairly and unjustly prevented me from doing business with grocery stores and wholesale," Henry explains. "While, on the one hand, the bottlers encourage stores to sell unlimited quantities of Pepsi and Coke products to the public, the bottlers will not allow those same stores to sell in quantity to me. That's just not fair." MVB had long-standing relationships with the local Sam's Club Sam's Club is a membership-only warehouse club owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. History The first Sam's Club opened in April 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma in the United States.[1] Sam's Club is named after Sam Walton. , Meijer's and Walmart stores and would often purchase Pepsi and Coke products in quantity from the stores because the price was significantly lower than the price he received from the bottlers. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Henry, the bottlers retaliated by threatening to no longer ship Pepsi and Coke products to the stores if they were caught selling their products to MVB. The stores had no choice but to stop selling to MVB. "I'm no legal expert," Henry said, "but that's discriminatory dis·crim·i·na·to·ry adj. 1. Marked by or showing prejudice; biased. 2. Making distinctions. dis·crim . Pepsi and Coke are using their power to prevent retail stores from selling Pepsi and Coke to me because they want to sell those same exact products to me -- only for much more money." Henry is convinced that the bottlers are trying to put him out of business. In addition to cutting off MVB's suppliers, Henry said the bottlers also went after MVB's established retail customers by offering them big discounts on Pepsi and Coke products as well as special pricing incentives and cash bonuses. "It's one thing to compete on a level playing field See net neutrality. ," Henry says. "But it's another when Pepsi and Coke can dictate one price to me, and then go after my good customers, knowing the price I pay. That's just not fair." |
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