Heavy fine for anti-competitive agreement
The Antitrust Authority has fined Morellato nearly €25.89 million for “a restrictive agreement in the distribution of affordable mid-range jewelry and watches, implemented from July 20, 2018, to December 23, 2025.”
According to the competition authority, the group allegedly “imposed retail prices by setting the maximum discount levels that distributors could apply on online sales channels, through specific recommendations to retailers regarding the percentages to be observed.”
Price monitoring and blocking on marketplaces
This practice was implemented through continuous monitoring of distributors’ prices, with penalty systems against those who did not comply with the instructions: successive warnings, requests to cancel discounts, up to the automatic blocking of orders and Amazon accounts, as well as threats of contract termination. Furthermore, the document states, “in its distribution contracts, Morellato included an explicit clause prohibiting its distributors from operating on third-party online platforms (such as Amazon, eBay, etc.). Compliance with this ban on using marketplaces was also subject to monitoring, threats, and reprisals by Morellato in the event of a violation, in complete contradiction to its own behavior since the company itself operates on these same platforms.”
The authority concludes its note by emphasizing that it “therefore found that Morellato’s conduct constitutes a vertical agreement in violation of Article 101 of the TFEU, as it sets resale prices and restricts online activity on marketplaces, in a discriminatory and disproportionate manner, thereby reducing competition among authorized resellers and limiting their autonomy in defining their own commercial policies.”
The Morellato Group’s strong reaction and outrage
In response to the Antitrust Authority’s announcement of this sanction, the group expressed in a statement its “strong disagreement and profound astonishment at the conclusions reached by the Authority.”
“While having guaranteed full cooperation and maximum transparency throughout the entire investigation process, Morellato emphasizes that the AGCM’s (Italian Competition Authority) approach is based on a reconstruction disconnected from reality, which ignores the true dynamics of the market and leads to a distorted representation of the facts.
In addition to the consequences of a fine deemed unjustified, this decision also causes significant reputational damage to Morellato, which is unduly associated with vertical collusive practices to which it is entirely unconnected. Morellato therefore reserves the right to defend its rights and image before the competent courts,” the official statement reads.
“We are surprised by the AGCM’s decision and regret the vexatious attitude toward an Italian company that promotes our jewelry tradition around the world. There seems to be more leniency toward the foreign giants with whom we compete on a daily basis. We stand by the transparency of our actions and our integrity toward the market, our clients, and consumers, whom we always place at the forefront,” commented Massimo Carraro, president of the Morellato Group. *
*Information updated on April 1 at 9:00 a.m.