Sterling Merchandising, Inc. v. Nestlé, S.A.

United States Court of Appeals
For the First Circuit

No. 10-1925

STERLING MERCHANDISING, INC.,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

NESTLÉ, S.A., PAYCO FOODS CORPORATION, AND
NESTLÉ PUERTO RICO, INC.,

Defendants, Appellees.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO

[Hon. Salvador E. Casellas, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Lynch, Chief Judge,
Lipez and Thompson, Circuit Judges.

Daniel L. Goldberg, with whom Alicia L. Downey, Bingham
McCutchen LLP, Jeffrey M. Williams, David C. Indiano, Seth A. Erbe,
Indiano & Williams, PSC, Kevin J. O'Connor, David J. Gilles,
Godfrey & Kahn, SC, and Javier A. Morales-Ramos were on brief, for
appellant.
Carmine R. Zarlenga, with whom Mayer Brown LLP, Wm. Bradford
Reynolds, Erik T. Koons, Howrey LLP, Luis A. Oliver, Roberto A.
Cámara-Fuertes, and Fiddler González & Rodríguez, PSC were on
brief, for appellees.

September 1, 2011
 LYNCH, Chief Judge. Sterling Merchandising, Inc., sued

Nestlé Puerto Rico, Inc. (Nestlé PR), and a group of Nestlé

corporations including Nestlé, S.A., Nestlé Holdings, Inc. and

Payco Foods Corporation (Payco). The suit alleges various federal

Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 12-27, and Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1-7,

antitrust violations and pendent Puerto Rico law claims stemming

from Nestlé PR's 2003 merger with Payco and later activities.

Payco had been both Sterling's and Nestlé PR's competitor in the

Puerto Rico ice cream distribution market.

The district court granted summary judgment on all of the

federal antitrust claims on the grounds that Sterling lacked

standing because its evidence failed to demonstrate, inter alia,

that it had suffered a cognizable antitrust injury. See Sterling

Merch., Inc. v. Nestlé, S.A., 724 F. Supp. 2d 245 (D.P.R. 2010).

As an alternative holding, the district court also granted summary

judgment on the merits of Sterling's antitrust causes of action.

Id. The pendent claims were then dismissed. Sterling appeals. We

affirm on the ground of Sterling's lack of standing, particularly

its failure to show antitrust injury.

I.

Nestlé, S.A. is the largest ice cream manufacturer in the

world and operates in Puerto Rico through its sales and marketing

subsidiary, Nestlé PR. Nestlé PR entered the ice cream

distribution market in 1998. After Nestlé PR merged with Payco,

-2-
another ice cream distributor, in June 2003, Nestlé PR and Sterling

were the two largest ice cream distributors in Puerto Rico, though

there were several other distributors and some retailers bypassed

Puerto Rico distributors altogether.

Sterling, the smaller distributor, sued the larger,

Nestlé PR, alleging Nestlé PR engaged in anti-competitive practices

from June 2003 through at least October 2009, when the evidence

closed.

A. The Pre-2003 Merger Ice Cream Distribution Market in
Puerto Rico

Sterling was founded in 1993 as a Puerto Rico ice cream

distributor. It immediately became the island-wide exclusive

distributor of Edy's brand ice cream, the most popular brand in

Puerto Rico. Other distributors in the ice cream market included

Payco Foods Corporation, and Mantecados Nevada, Inc. In 1998, five

years after Sterling's formation, Nestlé PR joined the distribution

market by buying Mantecados Nevada's assets.

From 1998 until the 2003 merger of Payco and Nestlé PR,

the ice cream distribution market in Puerto Rico was competitive,

and neither Payco, Nestlé PR, nor Sterling dominated the market.

Sterling maintained Edy's as its flagship brand, which Sterling

received from the Dreyer's ice cream manufacturing company. In the

late 1990s, Dreyer's began giving Sterling a per-unit discount,

tying the discount to Sterling's previous-year sales. Before the

-3-
merger at issue, Sterling and Dreyer's negotiated a $0.75 per unit

promotional support for Edy's. Sterling says this was done to

improve its position in competing with Payco and Nestlé PR/Nevada.

In 2003, Dreyer's also assigned to Sterling its new "Skinny Cow"

products. Despite the competitive market and its exclusive

distribution rights to Edy's, Sterling's financial performance

declined from 2001 until 2003. During that period, Sterling's

sales dropped from $8.07 million to $7.01 million.

Nestlé PR also suffered from poor financial performance

before its 2003 merger. It had roughly $8 million in losses as of

May 2002, and sought ways to improve its financial outlook. It

contemplated merger, including with Sterling, as a route to

profitability, and eventually did merge with Payco.

B. The 2003 Nestlé PR/Payco Merger and the Separate Nestlé
Acquisition of Dreyer's

In June 2003, Nestlé PR acquired 50 percent of Payco,

which was only in the distribution business. Nestlé did not

acquire the remaining 50 percent of Payco's shares until September

2005. The merger was reviewed by the Puerto Rico Office of

Monopolistic Affairs (PROMA), which approved the merger conditioned

on particular stipulations, none of which is alleged to have been

subsequently breached, and which continue to be effective. For

example, one stipulation is that Nestlé may not transfer Edy's to

another distributor without the approval of PROMA unless Sterling

-4-
has, in the interim, acquired distribution rights to either

Breyer's or Blue Bunny ice cream.

Separately, but also in June 2003, Nestlé, S.A., Nestlé

PR's parent, acquired a controlling interest in Dreyer's, the

manufacturer of Edy's brand ice cream products. Nestlé, S.A.

acquired 100 percent ownership of Dreyer's in January 2006.

Sterling has remained Edy's exclusive distributor despite Nestlé,

S.A.'s acquisition of Dreyer's. The end result is that Nestlé,

S.A. manufactures Edy's, which is the most lucrative of Sterling's

distribution products and its flagship brand, while Nestlé PR,

Nestlé, S.A.'s subsidiary, is Sterling's largest competitor at the

distribution level.

C. The Post-Merger Market

The merger of Nestlé PR and Payco appears to have had

significant costs to the defendant merged companies. Immediately

after the 2003 merger, the merged Nestlé PR (including Payco) had

an 85 percent market share in the ice cream distribution market;

that share fell to 70 percent by 2007. The merged entities have

also lost a number of their major exclusive arrangement retail

customers to Sterling.

Shortly after the 2003 merger, for example, Sterling

acquired exclusive rights to distribute ice cream products to

Puerto Rico retail customers Grande and Pitusa, both of which were

Payco customers prior to the merger. In 2007, Supermercados Econo,

-5-
Inc., the largest retail seller of ice cream in Puerto Rico and

formerly a retail customer of Payco, also signed exclusivity

agreements with Sterling and others. Supermercados Econo's

agreements have resulted in the merged Nestlé PR losing its sales

with Econo stores. Further, the merger itself caused at least one

of Payco's product lines, Wells' Dairy Inc.'s Blue Bunny brand, to

terminate its distribution agreement with the merged Nestlé

PR/Payco on the grounds that the merger constituted a material

breach of the Blue Bunny distribution agreement and would, in

Wells' Dairy Inc.'s view, negatively affect the distribution of

Blue Bunny products.

As the district court found, "some products distributed

by Nestlé PR/Payco lost market share and access to important

locations," and during the first six months of joint Nestlé

PR/Payco operations the merged company lost $5 million in revenue

to Sterling and other competitors. Id. at 260. That trend has

continued beyond the initial six-month period following the merger.

By contrast, Sterling's market share and sales, which

were stagnant before the Nestlé PR/Payco merger, have significantly

improved since the merger. Before the merger, Sterling's net sales

had declined from $8.07 million in 2001 to $7.59 million in 2002,

and to $7.01 million in 2003. After the merger of its competitors,

Sterling's sales rose year over year from 2003 through 2008, at an

-6-
average of 11 percent a year. Sterling's profits and operating

revenue rose commensurately with sales.

Both before and after the merger, Sterling acquired

distribution rights to other retailers and rights to distribute

other brands, including Good Humor, J & J Snacks, Rich's Ice Cream,

and Turkey Hill. Puerto Rico is not a market where only a small

number of brands are sold. Rather, as Sterling's acquisitions of

distribution rights to new brands demonstrate, there are a number

of manufacturers of ice cream available to distributors in Puerto

Rico. And during this period, on Sterling's own evidence, the

overall sales of ice cream products in dollar terms increased in

Puerto Rico.

Sterling put only limited evidence into the record of its

market share, but its expert did acknowledge that "[i]t's grown

over the 2003 to the present" time period. The record evidence

shows that Sterling's share of the market has risen from 14.7

percent in 2003 to more than 22 percent in 2008. This data also

shows a steady increase in Sterling's market share during the

entire period of alleged monopolistic behavior by defendants.

Sterling's strong financial performance has led it to

increase the size of its facilities and upgrade. Since the 2003

Nestlé PR/Payco merger, it has constructed a new warehouse with

twice the square footage of its previous warehouse. Due both to

the increased size of the facility and to technology upgrades, the

-7-
new warehouse could increase Sterling's distribution capacity by as

much as eight times over the previous warehouse.

Sterling has maintained its exclusive distribution

agreement with Edy's after both Nestlé PR's merger with Payco, and

Nestlé, S.A.'s acquisition of Dreyer's, Edy's manufacturer. In

2004, Dreyer's (already having been acquired by Nestlé, S.A.)

reduced Sterling's per-unit discount from $0.75 to $0.60, citing

increased costs of raw materials. Also in 2004, Dreyer's took the

line of "Skinny Cow" products from Sterling, but not the Edy's

brand, and now distributes the Skinny Cow line through Nestlé PR.

Faced with the obvious problem that its growing success

after the merger makes it difficult to show injury to itself,

Sterling alleged that in a but-for-2003-merger world, it would have

thrived even more than it did. Sterling presented a two-part

injury and damages theory to explain how it would have been even

better off absent Nestlé PR's allegedly anticompetitive behavior.

First, it alleged that Nestlé PR's post-merger

exclusivity agreements with a large number of grocery stores, by

foreclosing Sterling from those stores, cost it $21-29 million in

sales it otherwise would have made. Second, Sterling argued that

absent this market foreclosure, it would have earned higher profits

on those sales it actually made because its increased market share

would have allowed it to be a more efficient operation. Sterling

also alleged it lost sales when Dreyer's took the "Skinny Cow"

-8-
product line away from Sterling and assigned it to Payco a year

after the Nestlé PR/Payco merger, and lost profits on actual sales

when Dreyer's reduced its per-unit discount on Edy's products.

These allegations are not supported by Sterling's expert's damages

model, which does not specifically discuss damages from these

alleged violations.

II.

The district court granted summary judgment on all counts

largely because it found Sterling, on the undisputed evidence, had

not demonstrated any antitrust injury.

As to injury to competition during the post-merger

period, the district court concluded the Puerto Rico ice cream

distribution market had in fact expanded. Id. The court found no

evidence that the Nestlé PR/Payco merger or the merged companies'

activities had resulted in restricted output. Nor did the court

find any evidence that prices to consumers had in fact been raised

in this period, much less that the raise could be tied to illegal

anticompetitive behavior. Id. The court noted that no price study

had been done by Sterling's experts, and that what little

information there was available regarding pricing showed that

consumer prices on some products had in fact decreased during the

relevant period. Id.

The district court found that Sterling's claims of any

injury to itself "either by [Nestlé PR's] exclusives or by product

-9-
price increases" were severely undermined by its "increased

profits, sales, and market share" in the post-merger period. Id.

at 259.

The court concluded that in light of these facts,

Sterling could not show that any antitrust injury resulted from

Nestlé PR/Payco's behavior.

The district court also rejected Sterling's damages

model. Id. at 262. That model attempted to extrapolate from

Sterling's 42-50 percent market share in two small slivers of the

market to the conclusion that Sterling would have had a 42-50

percent market share throughout Puerto Rico absent Nestlé PR's

purportedly anticompetitive actions. The court held that the model

failed to meet Sterling's burden of proving damages for two

reasons. First, the model adopted sub-markets with no exclusive

agreements whatsoever as the benchmark for comparison, but this was

an inaccurate point of comparison as exclusivity agreements are not

per se illegal and have long been a lawful part of the ice cream

distribution market in Puerto Rico. Id. at 260-62. Second,

Sterling's market share was not anywhere near 42-50 percent before

the merger, "and it is unrealistic to posit that the company's

sales and market presence would have grown four-fold had the Nestlé

PR/Payco merger never occurred." Id. at 262.

The court further concluded that even had Sterling shown

any injury to itself, it had not shown any antitrust injury, that

-10-
is, that it was injured by anticompetitive activity and that its

injury was "sufficiently direct, nonspeculative, and measurable to

the extent that causality is not in doubt." Id. at 258. The court

found that Sterling failed to demonstrate that any of the allegedly

anticompetitive activity charged by Sterling--purportedly illegal

use of exclusivity agreements to excessively foreclose the market,

a price squeeze from reducing Dreyer's per-unit discount to

Sterling, and allegedly illegal foreclosure from distribution

contracts for new Dreyer's products–had been proven to injure

Sterling.

As to exclusivity contracts, the district court found

that they had been used in Puerto Rico since the 1990s, that Nestlé

PR's reliance on them had actually decreased in the years after the

2003 merger,1 and that the agreements themselves did not have any

anticompetitive hallmarks such as long duration, below-cost

pricing, or excessive foreclosure of the market. Id. at 260-61,

264-66. The court noted that in the post-merger period, Sterling

had acquired new distribution rights to new retail markets to

1
Rates of market foreclosure by Payco exclusive accounts
rose from 28.2 percent in 2004 to 30.8 percent in 2005, but
declined to 29.4 percent in 2006 and 19.5 percent in 2007; the
agreements were mostly for one to two years. Sterling argued that
foreclosure rates were higher than these figures in certain sub-
regions of Puerto Rico. The district court rejected this attempt
at "gerrymandering of markets . . . to artificially show high
levels of foreclosure" given that Sterling had identified the
relevant market as the entirety of Puerto Rico in its complaint.
Sterling Merch., Inc. v. Nestlé, S.A., 724 F. Supp. 2d 245, 265
(D.P.R. 2010).

-11-
which, before the merger, either Nestlé PR or Payco had exclusive

access. The court also observed that the entry of additional

distributors to the market since the 2003 merger indicated that

Nestlé PR's exclusivity contracts have not served to impair the

competitive structure of the market. Id. at 264.

As to Sterling's claims of a price squeeze after Nestlé

PR acquired Dreyer's, the manufacturer of Edy's, the district court

found that while Sterling's concerns were "legitimate from a

business point of view, they do not involve any overt anti-

competitive act" because the per-unit cost to Sterling had not

"significantly increased." Id. at 261. It further reasoned that

sales volume had increased and consumer prices stayed "stable,"

"strongly suggesting that the competitive structure of the market

has not been harmed, thus precluding antitrust injury." Id.

As to the allegations that new Nestlé PR/Payco products

had been denied to Sterling, the district court found Sterling

could not show any "tangible damages" because it had expanded its

sales and increased its market share following the merger despite

the fact that it "was not in rapid expansion before the merger."

Id. The court further reasoned that, in any event, Nestlé PR had

no legal duty to offer its brands, such as the "Skinny Cow" line,

to Sterling. Id. at 270. It also observed that Sterling had not

been terminated as a distributor of Edy's brand ice cream even

after Nestlé PR acquired Dreyer's and became Edy's manufacturer.

-12-
Id. at 271-72. Nor had Nestlé PR taken "any steps to make

distributing Edy's unprofitable for Sterling." Id. at 272.

Finally, the court also rejected Sterling's

monopolization and attempted monopolization claims under § 2 of the

Sherman Act on the merits because Sterling had failed to show, as

it must, either that Nestlé PR wielded monopoly power, or that

there was a "dangerous probability" that Nestlé PR would acquire

such power. Id. at 266-72.

III.

Our review of the grant of summary judgment is de novo,

taking all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most

favorable to Sterling, the nonmoving party. See White v. R.M.

Packer Co., 635 F.3d 571, 575 (1st Cir. 2011).

Sterling argues that its evidence sufficed to show that

Nestlé PR has put a "stranglehold" on the Puerto Rico ice cream

distribution market by: (1) acquiring its former competitor, Payco;

(2) entering into "strategically deployed exclusivity contracts"

that lock up lucrative and geographically efficient grocery stores

albeit without foreclosing more than 30 percent of the market; and

(3) acquiring Dreyer's, the manufacturer of Sterling's star product

line, and causing Dreyer's to reduce from 75 cents to 60 cents the

discount it once gave Sterling on its wholesale price. Sterling

argues these practices have "harmed interbrand competition" and

also "injured Sterling by foreclosing it from sales it would have

-13-
made in the absence of exclusive dealing contracts and increasing

Sterling's input and operational costs" by reducing the wholesale

discount it once received and "forcing route structure

inefficiencies."

Sterling insists it has demonstrated antitrust injury

because it would have done even better for itself than it has were

it not for the merger, the removal of a portion of Dreyer's

wholesale discounts on Edy's products, and Nestlé PR's post-merger

exclusivity arrangements. Sterling argues that in such a but-for

world, purchasers would have been offered more choices in more

locations at more competitive prices, and Sterling would have

gained more market share. Sterling also argues that it would have

been able to use more efficient delivery routes, thereby lowering

its per-unit costs.2 Sterling attributes its actual increased

sales to the fact that Wells' Dairy Inc.'s Blue Bunny product and

distribution line was "driven out" of the market after the Nestlé

PR/Payco merger, which has benefitted Sterling in the short term.3

2
Sterling also claims that Nestlé PR's post-merger
exclusivity agreements were "unremunerative," but Sterling does not
develop the argument or cite to evidence to support this allusion
to predatory pricing, and did not adequately raise this argument to
the district court.
3
Sterling also attributes its financial performance to the
fact that the pendency of both this litigation and an investigation
of Nestlé by the Department of Justice has caused Nestlé PR and its
subsidiaries to "restrain themselves from unleashing the full brunt
of their power to completely destroy competition."
At oral argument, Sterling raised for the first time the
argument that the real danger of Nestlé PR's conduct is the injury

-14-
 Nestlé PR responds that Sterling has failed to show

either that it had suffered any injury or that Nestlé PR's

allegedly anticompetitive actions had caused such injury. Nestlé

PR cites the lack of evidence of injury to competition or

consumers, Sterling's post-2003 financial performance, the evidence

of Sterling's entry into outlets previously controlled by Payco,

the merged Nestlé PR's declining use of exclusivity agreements, and

the unrealistic and speculative economic forecast Sterling used as

its but-for scenario.

Nestlé PR also argues that whatever Sterling might show

about the effect of Nestlé PR's actions on Sterling, the case law

requires Sterling to show that its loss comes from acts that reduce

output and/or raise prices to consumers. Sullivan v. Nat'l

Football League, 34 F.3d 1091, 1096-97 (1st Cir. 1994). Nestlé PR

points out that while Sterling claims in its amended complaint that

consumers saw "increased retail prices and constricted retail

options," it never actually produced evidence to support either

reduced output or increased prices to consumers. Sterling's

expert, Dr. Overstreet, acknowledged in testimony that he had done

no analysis of consumer pricing, or of any potential causes of any

that might come to pass in the future, whether or not it has
suffered injury now, such as to entitle it to injunctive relief.
No such argument was raised in the appellate briefs or in the
district court. We decline to address this new argument that
Sterling need not show antitrust injury to obtain injunctive
relief. This argument has been doubly waived. See Cortés-Rivera
v. Dep't of Corr. & Rehab., 626 F.3d 21, 27 (1st Cir. 2010).

-15-
increased prices, preventing Sterling from proving that any

increased price either existed or resulted from anticompetitive

conduct by Nestlé PR. Nor did Sterling produce any evidence of

reduced output. In fact, Nestlé argues, there was evidence to the

contrary of increased output and reduced prices.

The Supreme Court has articulated a six-factor test that

governs whether a plaintiff has standing to bring an antitrust

action. The relevant factors are:

(1) the causal connection between the alleged
antitrust violation and harm to the plaintiff;
(2) an improper motive; (3) the nature of the
plaintiff's alleged injury and whether the
injury was of a type that Congress sought to
redress with the antitrust laws ("antitrust
injury"); (4) the directness with which the
alleged market restraint caused the asserted
injury; (5) the speculative nature of the
damages; and (6) the risk of duplicative
recovery or complex apportionment of damages.

RSA Media, Inc. v. AK Media Grp., Inc., 260 F.3d 10, 14 (1st Cir.

2001) (quoting Serpa Corp. v. McWane, Inc., 199 F.3d 6, 10 (1st

Cir. 1999)); see also Associated Gen. Contractors of Cal., Inc. v.

Cal. State Council of Carpenters, 459 U.S. 519, 537-45 (1983).

"Although we technically balance the six factors to determine if

standing is appropriate, this Court has emphasized the causation

requirement." RSA Media, 260 F.3d at 14 (citation omitted).

Additionally, "the absence of 'antitrust injury' will generally

defeat standing." Id. Sterling has not satisfied these tests and

particularly has not shown antitrust injury.

-16-
 The plaintiff bears the burden of proving antitrust

injury. Brunswick Corp. v. Pueblo Bowl-O-Mat, Inc., 429 U.S. 477,

489 (1977). Antitrust injury is "injury of the type the antitrust

laws were intended to prevent and that flows from that which makes

defendants' acts unlawful." Id. The injury should be "the type of

loss that the claimed violations . . . would be likely to cause,"

id. (alteration in original) (quoting Zenith Radio Corp. v.

Hazeltine Research, Inc., 395 U.S. 100, 125 (1969)), and should

therefore "reflect the anticompetitive effect either of the

violation or of anticompetitive acts made possible by the

violation," id. Plaintiffs must show not only that they were

injured as a result of the defendant's actions and that those

actions constituted an antitrust violation, but also that their

injury is the type of injury the antitrust violation would cause to

competition.

A competitor may suffer injury even when there is no

injury to competition or to consumers, and so lack standing. Even

if a competitor is hurt because the merger of its rivals makes them

more efficient or able to compete more aggressively, that harm is

not an antitrust violation, and the competitor lacks standing. See

2 Areeda & Hovenkamp, Antitrust Law, ¶ 348a, at 387 (2d. ed. 2000).

Further, unlike consumers, competitors have incentives to bring

antitrust suits for purposes which are anti-competitive, for

example to induce the defendant competitor to moderate their

-17-
competition. Id. As a result, there is reason for courts to be

"properly skeptical of many rivals' suits, particularly when the

practices are not obviously 'exclusionary.'" Id.

Injury to competition is "usually measured by a reduction

in output and an increase in prices in the relevant market."

Sullivan, 34 F.3d at 1097 (emphasis in original); see also

Stamatakis Indus., Inc. v. King, 965 F.2d 469, 471 (7th Cir. 1992)

("The [Supreme Court's] antitrust injury doctrine . . . 'requires

every plaintiff to show that its loss comes from acts that reduce

output or raise prices to consumers.'" (quoting Chi. Prof'l Sports

Ltd. P'ship v. Nat'l Basketball Ass'n, 961 F.2d 667, 670 (7th Cir.

1992))).

The overriding theme of Sterling's case is that, as a

result of its merger with Payco, Nestlé PR has monopoly power in

the Puerto Rico ice cream distribution market, and has exercised

that power. What the undisputed facts demonstrate is that,

together, Payco and Nestlé PR had an 85 percent share of the

distribution market at the time of their 2003 merger, but that the

market share of the merged entity has since fallen to 70 percent.

This was not surprising; Nestlé PR's ice cream distribution

division had been suffering heavy losses, and hoped the merger

would give it viable ice cream distribution business. Still, a 70

percent market share is considerable. Nonetheless, we conclude, as

did the district court, that Sterling has not shown the market has

-18-
suffered a reduction in output or an increase in consumer prices.

It has not shown an impairment of competition or antitrust injury

from the sum of its theories.

Sterling failed to provide evidence that consumer prices

increased during the relevant period. Its main economic expert,

Dr. Overstreet, asserted, without evidentiary support, that Nestlé

PR's acquisition of Payco allowed it to "maintain prices above

. . . levels that likely would be found in a more competitive

market." Dr. Overstreet testified, however, that he did not

undertake an analysis of consumer ice cream prices in Puerto Rico,

and he stated that there is "probably some dearth of consistent and

reliable information about it." Sterling's attempt to show

increased prices to consumers was unsupported by basic evidence

such as price studies for the Puerto Rico ice cream market, and is

unavailing.4

4
At oral argument, Sterling pointed for the first time to
evidence that purportedly shows consumer ice cream prices in Puerto
Rico increased during the relevant period. Sterling had not cited
these documents in its appellate brief. In any event, they do not
show consumer prices increased. Sterling points to deposition
testimony of its president, which indicates that Sterling had, at
one time in 2006, increased prices by 15 percent to some of its
retailers. But Sterling's president explicitly stated that the
increase was limited, and that he "held pricing back at key
retailers through 'roll backs.'" In any case, there is no evidence
that the limited number of price increases to retailers were ever
passed on to consumers. Sterling also points to a July 24, 2003
email from a Payco officer that opaquely refers to aligning Nestlé
PR prices with Payco prices following the 2003 merger, but this
evidence does not show such a price increase actually occurred, and
again speaks only to prices to retailers, not consumers. The only
evidence Sterling cites that actually relates to consumer prices is

-19-
 In fact, the evidence suggests that, if anything,

consumer prices decreased during the relevant period. Evidence

suggests that both Sterling and Blue Bunny adopted a strategy of

reducing prices in order to entice retailers to break away from

[Nestlé PR's] exclusive contracts. While there was no evidence

offered of what happened to retail prices islandwide, there is

reason to believe consumers benefitted from these price wars. And

independent evidence at least shows that, in some supermarkets, the

retail cost of Edy's was lowered. Further, the evidence is that,

while inflation in Puerto Rico averaged 11.9 percent annually

between 2003 and 2007, the consumer prices for both Blue Bunny and

Edy's ice cream were lower in 2007 than they were in 2001.

The evidence regarding output is similar. Sterling did

not set forth any evidence from which an inference can be drawn

that there was a reduction in output within the relevant market

during the relevant period, let alone a reduction attributable to

Nestlé PR's alleged violations, or that Sterling consumers were

"forced to choose between less preferred brands or visit[] another

store" as a result of anti-competitive actions.

The lack of evidence of antitrust injury in the form of

either increased consumer prices or reduced output is consistent

a chart detailing pricing of various ice cream brands at Econo
supermarkets from June 2003 until August 2006. But that chart
shows consumer prices remained relatively constant during the three
year period.

-20-
with the lack of evidence that Sterling itself has been negatively

affected by Nestlé PR's purported violations. It is axiomatic that

antitrust laws are concerned with protecting against impairments to

a market's competitiveness and not impairments to any one market

actor. See Brooke Grp. Ltd. v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.,

509 U.S. 209, 224 (1993). It is also true that "an antitrust

plaintiff's post-violation successes do not necessarily preclude

compensation for damages proximately caused by an antitrust

violation." Pierce v. Ramsey Winch Co., 753 F.2d 416, 436 (5th

Cir. 1985). Nonetheless, that Sterling's sales, profits, and

market share have increased during the relevant period provides

further indication that no antitrust injury exists here.5

Sterling tries to sidestep these deficiencies by arguing

that the types of harm it alleges suffice as alternatives to the

classic evidence of antitrust injuries. However, the cases

Sterling cites as recognizing alternate types of antitrust injuries

5
Despite its increased sales, profits, and market share,
Sterling argues it suffered damages because it would have earned
far more were it not for Nestlé PR's exclusive agreements. It
points to its 42 percent and 50 percent market share in retail
stores that have no exclusive agreements as plausible benchmarks
for what its market-wide performance would be in the absence of
exclusive agreements. But this damages model assumes that the
proper "but-for" market is one without any exclusive agreements.
That assumption is erroneous, as these agreements are often
efficient and pro-competitive, have been in use in Puerto Rico
since before the merger, and, as discussed below, are not illegal
in this case. In a market devoid of any exclusivity agreements,
Sterling may perform better, but Sterling is not entitled to such
a market.

-21-
actually discuss behavior that would obviously result in higher

prices and lower output. See JTC Petroleum Co. v. Piasa Motor

Fuels, Inc., 190 F.3d 775, 778-79 (7th Cir. 1999) (total denial of

an essential input, in service of a cartel that would raise prices

and reduce output); Engine Specialties, Inc. v. Bombardier Ltd.,

605 F.2d 1, 12-15 (1st Cir. 1979) (termination of an exclusive

distributorship by competitors who had conspired to divide a retail

market between them, which is per se illegal behavior designed to

raise prices and reduce output). This case is nothing like the

cases cited.

Even had Sterling made an adequate showing of harms to

competition through increased consumer prices or reduced output,

Sterling would have to show those market impairments were the

result of antitrust violations in order to demonstrate antitrust

injury. But Sterling has failed to show that any of Nestlé PR's

conduct violates antitrust provisions.

We first reject Sterling's argument that Nestlé PR's

exclusive dealing agreements have impaired competition in the

market or caused any injury to Sterling. Because vertical

exclusive dealing agreements "can achieve legitimate economic

benefits (reduced cost, stable long-term supply, predictable

prices), no presumption against such agreements exists today."

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of R.I.,

373 F.3d 57, 65 (1st Cir. 2004). Given their capacity to enable

-22-
markets to operate more efficiently and benefit consumers, such

agreements are not subject to per se treatment, but are instead

subject to rule of reason analysis. Tampa Elec. Co. v. Nashville

Coal Co., 365 U.S. 320, 327 (1961); Stop & Shop Supermarket, 373

F.3d at 62; 11 Areeda & Hovenkamp, Antitrust Law, ¶¶ 1802-07 (2d.

ed. 2005). "Indeed, courts tend to be skeptical of such claims

because it is not in the long-term interest of the company that

grants the 'exclusive deal' to drive out of business competitors of

the grantee." Stop & Shop Supermarket, 373 F.3d at 66.

The rule of reason calculus requires that Sterling make

a burdensome showing that (1) the agreements in question involved

the exercise of power in a particular economic market, (2) that

this exercise impaired the competitiveness of the market, and (3)

that those impairments "outweighed efficiencies or other economic

benefits." Id. at 61. Sterling's argument fails under this test

for a number of reasons.

As a practical matter, in applying the rule of reason

calculus to exclusive dealing arrangements, "foreclosure levels are

unlikely to be of concern where they are less than 30 or 40

percent," and while high numbers do not guarantee success for an

antitrust claim, "low numbers make dismissal easy." Id. at 68. It

is undisputed that Nestlé PR/Payco's rates of market foreclosure

through exclusivity arrangements with Puerto Rico retailers rose to

-23-
a high of 30.8 percent for a single year, 2005, and have otherwise

remained below 30 percent.

Significantly, the Nestlé PR/Payco agreements are almost

all of one or two year duration, and there is turnover. "Short

contract terms and low switching costs generally allay most fears

of injury to competition." 11 Areeda & Hovenkamp, Antitrust Law,

¶ 1802, at 94. Sterling points to Nestlé PR's five-year, 90

percent exclusive contract with Ralph's as support for its claim.

But that agreement is not entirely exclusive; it allows other

distributors at least limited access. In any event, its duration

is aberrational, and is on its own insufficient to sustain

Sterling's claim.

"It is not easy to think of a rule of reason analysis

that does not depend on showing adverse effects on competition in

a properly defined relevant market." Stop & Shop Supermarket, 373

F.3d at 69. Sterling has not shown that Nestlé PR's exclusive

agreements have yielded adverse effects on competition. Sterling

and Nestlé PR and other distributors compete to obtain such

exclusivity agreements with retail vendors; such agreements have

been present in the Puerto Rico market since at least the 1990s.

Sterling was able to win over several of Nestlé PR's largest

customers, including the large chains Grande and Pitusa, and in

2007, the largest retail seller of ice cream, Supermercados Econo,

Inc., switched distributors and defendants lost all of their sales

-24-
in those stores. It is also significant that there are other

avenues of distribution available, and new competitors entering the

market. And, as noted, Sterling's own market share has increased

during the relevant market period.

There is no evidence that the challenged exclusivity

agreements impair competition, nor that any such impairment

outweighs gained market efficiencies. See E. Food Servs., Inc. v.

Pontifical Catholic Univ. Servs. Ass'n, 357 F.3d 1, 9 (1st Cir.

2004) (rejecting distributor's antitrust claim regarding

competitor's exclusive agreements because distributor failed to

show "that so many potential outlets are foreclosed to it or other

competitors by long-term exclusive dealing contracts or other

tactics that survival or new entry is infeasible").

As to Dreyer's price support for Edy's, Sterling provides

no authority supporting its argument that Dreyer's was required to

maintain Sterling's $0.75 per-unit discount in perpetuity simply

because Dreyer's had been purchased by Nestlé, S.A. There is no

basis to conclude that Dreyer's would have continued the discount

in perpetuity, whether or not it was acquired by Nestlé. Sterling

attempts to analogize its case to JTC Petroleum to impose a

stricter duty on Dreyer's now that it is a Nestlé subsidiary. But

in that case the defendant successfully prevented the plaintiff's

suppliers from selling it any of the needed input. See JTC

Petroleum, 190 F.3d at 778-79. The $0.15 reduction in Sterling's

-25-
discount is hardly analogous. Dreyer's stated legitimate business

reasons not to continue this temporary arrangement. And as the

district court pointed out, the net present price of Edy's to

Sterling is 10 percent less than it was in 2000, despite an annual

inflation rate that averaged 11.9 percent between 2003 and 2007.

Further, we have previously noted that "once a firm [like

Nestlé PR] has integrated vertically into distribution by acquiring

one or more existing distributors [like Payco], it may reduce costs

by dealing only with its wholly-owned distributors. A distributor

terminated for this reason might certainly suffer injury-in-fact,

but it would not suffer antitrust injury as long as there were

alternative sources of the product."6 Serpa Corp., 199 F.3d at 11.

(quoting 2 Areeda & Hovenkamp, Antitrust Law ¶ 381c, at 114 (Supp.

1999)) (internal quotation marks omitted). Given that, it is

difficult to conceive how it could be illegal for Dreyer's to

reduce a negotiated $0.75 per-unit discount to $0.60. This

rationale disposes of Sterling's next argument as well: there is no

6
Alternative sources exist here. The parent company of
Nestlé PR is Nestlé, S.A. The major competitor of Nestlé, S.A. on
the manufacturing level is Unilever, which has used Sterling as a
distributor in Puerto Rico during some of the time period at issue.
We note that the Puerto Rico Office of Monopolistic
Affairs (PROMA) approved the 2003 Nestlé PR/Payco merger upon
Nestlé PR's agreement to seek PROMA's approval before transferring
the distribution rights to Edy's ice cream (but not any other
Dreyer's brand) from Sterling to another competitor unless Sterling
had, in the interim, acquired distribution rights to either
Breyer's or Blue Bunny ice cream.

-26-
antitrust violation lurking in Nestlé, S.A.'s reassignment of

certain Dreyer's product lines from Sterling to Nestlé PR.

Our conclusion that Sterling has failed to show it has

suffered the requisite injury to maintain this suit also

encompasses its monopolization and attempted monopolization claims

under § 2 of the Sherman Act.

To prevail on its monopolization claim, Sterling must

show that Nestlé PR (1) has monopoly power in the Puerto Rico ice

cream distribution market, and (2) "has engaged in impermissible

'exclusionary' practices with the design or effect of protecting or

enhancing its monopoly position." Coastal Fuels of P.R., Inc. v.

Caribbean Petroleum Corp., 79 F.3d 182, 195 (1st Cir. 1996)

(quoting Hovenkamp, Federal Antitrust § 6.4a (1994)) (internal

quotation marks omitted).

Whether a defendant has monopoly power depends on the

defendant's "ability to lessen or destroy competition" in the

relevant market. Id. at 196 (quoting Spectrum Sports, Inc. v.

McQuillan, 506 U.S. 447, 456 (1993)). Despite Nestlé PR's

significant market share, Sterling has failed to demonstrate Nestlé

PR has such an ability, or that it has engaged in impermissible

practices causing the required injury. If anything, the undisputed

facts--that Nestlé PR's own market share is decreasing, that

Sterling's market share is steadily on the rise, and that consumer

prices have not increased--evidence the opposite conclusion.

-27-
 Sterling nonetheless argues there are high barriers to

entry which enhance Nestlé PR's ability to engage in market

foreclosure. Although distribution businesses do not commonly

involve high barriers to entry, Sterling says many exist here,

including: the cost of establishing a Direct Store Delivery system;

the substantial capital required to purchase trucks and freezers,

particularly because ice cream products must be kept at minus 20

degrees Fahrenheit; and the difficulty of establishing route

density. Sterling acknowledges that there have been new entries to

distribution of ice cream in Puerto Rico, but says the new

businesses, such as Palm Industries, Inc., are not successful.

However, there is other evidence of successful new

entries. As the district court noted, Gianni New York, LLC, has

entered the market since Nestlé PR's 2003 merger with Payco,

distributing to Supermercados Amigo, Inc., one of the largest

supermarket chains in Puerto Rico, as well as to two other large

chains, Wal-Mart and Supermercados SuperMax. Also, retailers can

import ice cream products directly from the United States,

bypassing distributors. Both the United States military bases in

Puerto Rico and Supermercados Econo, Inc. have adopted that

practice. And some suppliers of ice cream in Puerto Rico have

their own distribution operation, helping to ensure consumer access

and choice.

-28-
 Regarding the attempted monopolization claim, Sterling

"must prove (1) that the defendant has engaged in predatory or

anticompetitive conduct with (2) a specific intent to monopolize

and (3) a dangerous probability of achieving monopoly power."

Spectrum Sports, 506 U.S. at 456. Sterling alleges that Nestlé

PR's market share, coupled with its corporate parent's control of

Edy's brand ice cream, Sterling's largest product line, create a

dangerous probability that it will achieve monopoly power. But

where a plaintiff remains profitable and in fact has expanded its

market share since the allegedly anticompetitive conduct has begun,

it faces an uphill battle in proving such a dangerous probability

exists. See Springfield Terminal Ry. Co. v. Canadian Pac. Ltd.,

133 F.3d 103, 110 (1st Cir. 1997) (rejecting attempt to monopolize

claim on basis of plaintiff's strong financial performance).

Under our circuit law, attempted monopolization claims

are "presumptively implausible" where, as is the case here, "the

challenged conduct has been in place for at least two years and the

remaining market remains robustly competitive as evidenced by

ongoing entry, profitability of rivals, and stability of their

aggregate market share." Id. (quoting Areeda & Hovenkamp, 3A

Antitrust Law ¶ 807f, at 360–61). That rule applies here. More

than six years have passed since the Nestlé PR/Payco merger, and

-29-
Sterling has been unable to establish any injury to itself or the

competitiveness of the market.7

We add that there was no abuse of discretion in the

district court's striking of untimely sections of Sterling's

expert's report. See Macaulay v. Anas, 321 F.3d 45, 51-53 (1st

Cir. 2003) (finding no abuse of discretion where district court

excluded "supplemental" expert report after close of lengthy

discovery period).

IV.

Summary judgment was properly granted. We affirm.

7
Given our conclusions, we need not consider the
statements of Nestlé PR's officers that Sterling argues evidences
Nestlé PR's specific intent to monopolize.

-30-