Japanese fridge firms face cartel allegations
14th July 2026
JAPAN: The Japanese Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is reported to have raided the offices of three refrigeration companies over suspected bid-rigging and cartel practices.
Japanese reports say that the FTC visited the offices of refrigerated and frozen display case manufacturers Fuji Electric, Nakano Refrigerators and SDRS, today, over suspected bid-rigging in contracts to supply refrigeration equipment to Seven-Eleven Japan stores. Fuji Electric and Nakano Refrigerators are both based in Tokyo and SDRS is headquartered in Isesaki, around 100km north west of the capital.
Accused of violating Japan’s antimonopoly act, those involved are suspected of having colluded in pre-arranging the bid-winners of Seven-Eleven Japan’s regular selection of suppliers for each Japanese district. The three companies are said to have won most of the orders for both new and refurbished stores in recent years.
Seven-Eleven Japan is the dominant convenience store chain in Japan, operating from over 22,000 locations.
The three companies have said that they are taking the FTC accusations very seriously and will fully co-operate with the investigation.
