NicoleBlu šŸ¦‹Jan 4, 2023
Robert Reich

Albertsons bought Safeway. Now Kroger is buying Albertons.

Combined they would control ~22% of the US grocery market, with revenue over $200B.

Add Walmart, these brands would control 70% of the grocery market in 167 cities across the country.

This is why antitrust matters.

Jan 3, 2023 at 11:56pmWeb
Show threadAudrea šŸŒøJan 3, 2023
@rbreich Choice is an illusion.
Show threadSteve PopovichJan 3, 2023
@rbreich I fondly remember the time when the government used to enforce the antitrust laws. These days their only purpose seems to be as decoration, or perhaps filler for law books.
Show threadChristine HallJan 4, 2023
@sspopovich @rbreich Those were the days before we believed in unabashed and totally unregulated capitalism.
Show threadfacepalm nationJan 4, 2023
@sspopovich @rbreich Our regular reminder that laws and regulations are only as good as how they are enforced.
Show threadZelkJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Absolutely.
Show threadBrialaJan 4, 2023
@rbreich This is interesting. Australia has had a supermarket duopoly controlling about 60% of our market for quite some years.
Show threadChaosJan 4, 2023

@static @rbreich You know, I've never even THOUGHT about that!

Only other competitor, really, is Aldi.

And that's before we get into the other big name stores that are owned by the Big Two (and the financial services/insurance branches of them as well, under their brands).

Show threadBrialaJan 4, 2023
@chaoskitty @rbreich Oh yeah. Australia is known for it's unusual supermarket er market.
Show threadChaosJan 4, 2023

@static @rbreich When you're used to it, you don't see it (of course, I'm so old I remember Franklins, haha)

At least we've got IGAs, but for how long, I don't know.

Show threadKayJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Kroger bought Mariano's here in Chicago. Mariano's was a pretty good store. Now it's awful.
Show threadRobespierretteJan 4, 2023

@k_theory @rbreich
In Seattle, Kroger has already bought up QFC and Fred Meyer. If they get Albertson/Safeway, theyā€™ll have no real competition in my part of town. šŸ˜«

I am *not* a Kroger shopper, and I donā€™t want them to be my only option! šŸ˜‘

Show threadTom SpettigueJan 4, 2023

@rbreich ...but will never happen, because this system is largely captured by the interests it is supposed to govern.

I'd use different words, but I'm trying to be more professional here than I was on the birdsite.

Show threadWe Should Bury ThisJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Albertsons bought Vons in California and the prices at the Vons I had shopped at for nearly 13 years shot up within months. I always preferred the bodegas near me anyway, but not everyone has that luxury.
Show threadSilentwolfJan 4, 2023

@rbreich

Monopoly needs to be stopped. That will only drive up prices.

Dillon's is owned by Krogers and they already increased grocery price by a dollar upwards to an extra $2!!!

Show threadiar81bJan 4, 2023
@rbreich buy from your farmers market. Our relationship with the food we eat became so very wrong.
Show threadWm.sonJan 4, 2023

@iar81b @rbreich

Ideally, but people in many areas don't have access to a farmers' market and cannot afford the prices farmers have to charge to make a profit!

Show threadiar81bJan 4, 2023

@Sfwmson @rbreich indeed it is not very easy. However the farmers are squeezed by having to sell to huge food conglomerates at rock bottom prices.

Also there is the matter of convenience. It is easy for the buyer to go to the supermarket and for the Carmel to sell all his production as well. Get past that and the economic equation is changing rapidly.

Show threadBeeJan 4, 2023
@rbreich It controls more than that in the Chicago area, the third largest metro area in the country!
Show threadBrian OkkenJan 4, 2023
@rbreich this is wrong
Show threadParJan 4, 2023
@rbreich the $200B revenue accounting for less than a quarter of the grocery market is extra-awful. If you want to imagine how to "solve hunger", and this is just the US (not even the whole world), you have to account for the sheer amount of political lobbying litigious nightmares (and ultimately state violence) that this industry will put in your way. We produce more than enough food, but so much of it goes to waste just so they can maintain this stranglehold and profit along the way šŸ¤¬
Show threadangel_northJan 4, 2023
@rbreich In Alaska both stores are a total rip off. Sad thing is, there they are the only 2 stores in the area to shop unless we want to to go into Anchorage to shop at Costco's.
Show threadChrisJan 4, 2023
@rbreich my town (and by extension, the one 14 miles down the road) have a total of: 3 Safeway (Albertsons) 2 Fred Meyer (Kroger), a Walmart, a Costco, and a local Co-op grocery storeā€¦šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļøšŸ˜¬ so much choiceā€¦
Show threadbaguetteladyJan 4, 2023

@rbreich Now do Intuit. They dominate the accounting software market. It's really disturbing the level to which they dominate the market.

But they've also branched out into banking, insurance, and email marketing (they recently acquired MailChimp). They also compete with their biggest users by offering bookkeeping services.

Show threadEggJan 4, 2023
@rbreich matters - yes. Actually carried out in law - nope.
Show threadNelson SVG JamesJan 4, 2023
@rbreich
Show threadEssay FaireJan 4, 2023
@rbreich But groceries stores face other competitors these days, like Misfits Markets, Imperfect Foods, etc. This segment of the retail, mail-order groceries(and often fresh ones that would never make it to stores shelves for cosmetic reasons or atypical size is growing. Don't you think we should compare to more than just big grocery stores?
Show threadFluffyCowBird āœ…Jan 4, 2023

@essayfaire @rbreich

The idea that you are "giving ugly veggies a job" by subscribing to something like Misfit Markets is little more than a clever marketing ploy, not reality. Almost all of them would be used in some other way, such as restaurants, animal feed, etc. šŸ¤·šŸ¼ā€ā™‚ļø

Also, didn't Misfit Markets buy up Imperfect Foods?

#CapitalismTrendsTowardMonopoly

Show threadEssay FaireJan 4, 2023
@FluffyCowBird @rbreich They did, but that makes sense from an economies of scale perspective. There are other companies with similar missions. Especially when all the restaurants were closing, a lot of produce was going unused, and this is an outlet that works around the big supermarket chains.
Show threadEmjaeJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Absolutely!
Show threadManuel RecountJan 4, 2023
@rbreich One big benefit of living in #Texas, we have #HEB.
Show threadJon ChibnallJan 4, 2023
@mrecount @rbreich Yeah, but youā€™re still in Texas. šŸ˜¬
Show threadMartha HowellJan 5, 2023
@mrecount @rbreich It's no Woodman's.
Show threadSisukas Bill šŸ‡«šŸ‡® #ResistJan 4, 2023
@rbreich This was also happening in the medical supply industry. When I first worked in a clinical lab there were many suppliers. When I retired, there were only a third of available suppliers due to mergers and buyouts.
Show threadKingoftheWhackadoodlesJan 4, 2023
@rbreich I hope this merger doesn't go through. While only two brands (Acme and Kings) are under this proposed merger, it will affect far too many people and limit their options. I'm luck where I live because I have at least 10 grocery stores close to where I live.
Show threadAlakestJan 4, 2023

@rbreich So *why* do people not form some sort of coop and cut these guys out of the equation?

Pool some resources, hire a manager/staff and buy the bulk from there. Why don't operations like Costco eat Albertsons/Wallmart for lunch?

I have guesses, but I think an expert opinion could be illuminating.

Show threadpermacultureandpoliticsJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Whenever possible people should suppor farmers markets, which is where not only the sustainable farmers, but also all the mom and pop bakeries, leather goods craftsmen, doll makers, spice and jelly purveyors, herbalists, and other small businesses have been forced to go.
Show threadgavinisdie Jan 4, 2023
@rbreich I'm speechless
Show threadMari ThomasJan 4, 2023
@rbreich
Which is why, in my opinion, people need to start growing gardens and starting grocery co ops.
Show threadJosh Ourisman Jan 4, 2023
@rbreich @geoglyphentropy theyā€™ve gotten brazen, I remember when they ā€˜marriedā€™ Luckyā€™s.
Show threadTom Fakes (he/him)Jan 4, 2023
@rbreich Kroger no longer is ā€™in networkā€™ for my prescriptions, so thatā€™s going to suck for a lot of people. My pharmacy of 20 years now needs to change.
Itā€™s not just about grocery prices
Show threadJambiBlueJan 4, 2023
@rbreich IBM
Show threaddawnfryJan 4, 2023
@rbreich
The two weapons Americans had during the first Gilded Age were the public outcry from the muckrakers reporting and government trustbusting.
Both the media and the laws have been worn down and subverted by the right wing. From buying media outlets, supporting propaganda, and firing investigative journalists, to passing laws hindering the governmentā€™s ability to protect the public from graft - Republicans have made a deliberate and concerted effort to destroy those tools.
Show threadVivian CreekmoreJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Antitrust efforts/laws couldn't be more important right now.
Show threadEleanna Of TundarJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Know what the best part about fucking anti-trust laws? All the execs taking their early retirement golden parachutes so they can escape the impending disaster of the monopoly collapsing by a the next bust cycle.
Show threadRandyJan 4, 2023
@rbreich at least Safeway,Albertsons and Kroger are union stores. Walmart just sucks the money from the community into the Waltonā€™s pockets.
Show threadVelvetAlexJan 4, 2023
@rbreich I only shop at Trader Joe's and local markets.
Show threadDusty BeoJan 4, 2023
@rbreich who owns Dollar Store?
Show threadJamieJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Thatā€™s awful.
Show threadRickJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Why is the Sherman Anti-trust Act no longer enforced, is it like the 3rd Section of the 14th Amendment, still here but ignored by the Legislature?
Show threadScenarioJan 4, 2023
@rbreich Fake cheese is now $10.
Show threadfunanarchistJan 4, 2023
@rbreich let them buy/merge on the stipulation that they unionize their workforce lol
Show threadadonnaJan 4, 2023
@rbreich this is why - neighborhoods and small towns canā€™t have grocery stores -they arenā€™t profitable to big chains
Show threadLisa TrombitasJan 4, 2023
@rbreich None of these grocery stores are in my area, but this probably explains the appearance of a lot of ā€œstore brandā€ items in my usual grocery store and the sudden disappearance of a lot of name brands that Iā€™m used to seeing.
Show threadRichservo Jan 4, 2023
@rbreich Which means grocery prices are about to get too high for anyone to afford. I hate that our corrupt gov ignores this shit now.
Show threadShachihokoJan 4, 2023

@rbreich And of course, the more they merge, the fewer stores they're going to want in any one market area; combine that with wanting to minimize losses and optimize profits, and you get closed grocery stores, which leads to food deserts.

Why the šŸ˜”šŸ†šŸ¤¬ do we have a system that lets corporations get away with this?!

Show threadveronicatashJan 4, 2023

@rbreich no... that is not why.

Why has to do with the enormous power and influence one would have with such a market share. Market manipulation is the why.

Show threadDatarainbow Privacy Assistantāœ…Jan 4, 2023
@rbreich is this the free market capitalistic system promised ?
Show threadBeth WaldronJan 5, 2023
@rbreich If you really want to see antitrust failure, look at insurance-pharmacy market. How one for-profit corporation can control a patient's entire access to care as insurer, pharmacy benefit manager & clinical provider is astounding. I see far too much 'keeping it in the corporate family' consumer steering in coverage policies.