Iconic Australian brand Peters Ice Cream has been fined $12 million (US$9 million) for trying to freeze out competitors by stopping them from being sold at service stations and convenience stores throughout Australia for five years. Peters Ice Cream admitted to acquiring the largest ice cream distributor in Australia—Processed Fish Distributors (PFD)—on the condition that they wouldn’t sell any competing ice creams without getting written permission. PFD allegedly made requests to distribute competing ice creams to petrol and convenience stores, but these requests were rejected by Peters. The food distributor is able to reach more than 90 percent of the country’s postcodes. The national consumer and competition watchdog announced on March 25 that the federal court action it had brought against the company had succeeded. “This is an important competition law case involving products enjoyed by many Australians,” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said in a …