Budapest, 17 December 2024 - The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has found that GymBeam, a company selling nutritional supplements, committed several infringements in its commercial activities. The company's communication practices did not meet the requirements of professional diligence: it used a large number of claims referring to the medicinal properties of certain products that were prohibited, and also used health claims that did not comply with the specific requirements applicable to them. Moreover, some of its other practices were also questionable. The company admitted the infringements and waived its right to appeal. The GVH's Competition Council imposed a fine of HUF 100 million on the company.
Suspecting that the company had engaged in unfair commercial practices against domestic consumers in several respects, the Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) has launched a competition proceeding against GymBeam s.r.o. and its Hungarian subsidiary Gymbeam Hungary Kft. at the end of 2022.
The national competition authority found that the company's commercial practices were indeed illegal on several points. The company:
- in many cases, the descriptions of the products on their websites claimed health benefits or medicinal properties that either did not comply with the legal requirements or were prohibited,
- misled consumers into believing that they could buy certain products at a discount by using stretched prices and by publishing the slogan "best prices" between 1 May 2022 and 7 November 2023.
- as of 28 May 2022, it did not display certain information related to the management and filtering of consumer reviews, as required by law.
In addition to the infringements, the Competition Council of the Hungarian Competition Authority found that GymBeam's communication practices did not meet the general requirement of professional diligence, as the company failed to ensure that there were no systematic issues similar to the above infringements in a large number of cases. Furthermore, a number of products have been sold without prior notification to the competent authorities.
In the course of the proceedings, the company cooperated with the GVH, admitted the infringements, waived its right to appeal and agreed to implement a compliance programme, including the development of a compliance policy, internal trainings and joining the Advertising Self-Regulatory Board. The GVH's Competition Council took all these into account as mitigating circumstances and imposed a fine of HUF 100 million on the company.
The national competition authority would like to remind businesses that food advertising claims concerning nutritional and health products are directly regulated by European Community law. Under this legislation, health claims may only be made on foods if they comply with the conditions laid down in the Regulation and are included in the EU's exhaustive list of permitted claims based on scientific evidence.
The case also shows that it pays to cooperate with the Hungarian Competition Authority. The GVH's primary objective is not to impose fines, so it offers a wide range of opportunities to cooperate. By actively cooperating during proceedings, the amount of the fine can be significantly reduced.
The case’s reference number is: VJ/51/2022.
GVH Public Service Communications Section
Further information:
Bálint Horváth, Head of Communication +36 20 238 6939
Katalin Gondolovics, Spokesperson +36 30 603 1170