Kenman Kandy Australia Pty Ltd will recall products labelled 'Australian Made Australian Owned' or '100% Australian Owned' as the company is no longer Australian owned.
Kenman Kandy is a manufacturer and wholesaler of Kenman, Kenman Best Value, Kenman Dinkum Aussie, Meadowsweet, Meadowsweet Best Value and Hellas confectionery.
On 1 December 1997 Kenman Kandy was acquired by Effem Foods Pty Ltd, an Australian company that is ultimately owned by US-based Mars Incorporated. Kenman Kandy's products are all made in Australia.
"After the acquisition Kenman Kandy began amending its packaging," Acting Australian Competition and Consumer Chairman, Mr Allan Asher, said today. "However, the ACCC was concerned that incorrectly labelled products were still being distributed to retail outlets."
Kenman Kandy has given a court-enforceable undertaking that it will:
- recall any incorrectly labelled stock still in the market place;
- refrain from distributing additional stock in packaging which represents that Kenman Kandy is Australian-owned, or from making further representations to that effect;
- publish corrective notices in the The Weekend Australian and in major daily newspapers in NSW, Victoria and South Australia;
- establish a mechanism for affected consumers to raise and resolve any claims they may have against Kenman Kandy as a result of the incorrect labelling; and
- take steps to ensure future compliance with the Trade Practices Act 1974.
"The ACCC takes a very serious view of false claims about Australian ownership," he said. "Not only do they cause detriment to consumers who go to some lengths to buy Australian products but they also result in the company making the claims obtaining unfair commercial advantage over those companies which do not make such claims".