Energy drink maker Red Bull hit by EU antitrust probe

This photograph shows Red Bull drink cans at the Red Bull Formula One team motorhome, in Hockenheim, on July 18, 2008.[AFP]

The EU on Thursday announced a probe into energy drink maker Red Bull over suspicions the Austrian company abused its dominant market position and potentially forced Europeans to pay higher prices.

The European Commission said it was concerned Red Bull gave "monetary and non-monetary incentives" to customers including supermarkets and fuel station shops to stop selling rival energy drinks in sizes that exceeded 250 millilitres.

It also has suspicions Red Bull sought to reduce the visibility of rivals in such stores "at least in the Netherlands", but did not name other EU states.

EU antitrust investigators raided Red Bull premises in 2023, a move the giant challenged in court. In October, a top EU court ruled the decision to inspect Red Bull was well founded, Brussels said.

There is no deadline for the EU's powerful antitrust regulator to complete its investigation and the opening of a probe does not prejudge the outcome.

"We want to see if these practices may be keeping prices high and limiting choice of energy drinks for consumers," EU competition chief Teresa Ribera said.

"This investigation is part of the commission's continued efforts to enforce competition rules in the food supply chain to the benefit of European consumers," Ribera said.