Robert Reich

If the Kroger-Albertsons merger goes through, that combined company + Walmart would control 70% of the grocery market in over 160 cities.

Think grocery prices are bad now?

Without competition, it would be a price gouging free-for-all.

This is why the FTC is suing to stop it.

Apr 2, 2024 at 10:04pmWeb
Show threadTroy AtkinsApr 2, 2024
@rbreich The administration is too busy fixing the premium phone market to focus on something as trivial as food insecurity.
Show threadVincent ParrettApr 2, 2024
@rbreich if you want to see how this looks, take a look at Australia - the Coles/Woolworths duopoly is causing a massive cost of living issue here.
Show threadKris HardyApr 3, 2024
@vincedownunder @rbreich Same here in NZ with our Woolworths / Foodstuffs duopoly, and one of the major food manufacturers is also Foodstuffs. The only saving grace is that Foodstuffs is a co-op.
Show threadVincent ParrettApr 3, 2024
@rbreich https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoo6XVxpiU8 - Australia's supermarket concentration issues explained.
The cost of living with Coles and Woolworths | Four Corners

YouTube
Show threadAriaflameApr 3, 2024
@vincedownunder @rbreich What, no Aldi near you? No farmer's market?
Show threadVincent ParrettApr 3, 2024
@ariaflame @rbreich ALDI 15 minutes, farmers market 40 minutes away. That's not the point though, in most of Australia there is no real competition and prices have skyrocketed over the last few years. ALDI has 593 stores in Australia, Coles 1555 and Woolworths 2253.
Show threadJude🇵🇸Apr 3, 2024
@ariaflame @vincedownunder @rbreich Good question! Not enough people use farmers' markets. But on the other hand, they are not available to a vast swathe of Aussies, and neither is Aldi or other independents.
Show threadTim RichardsApr 3, 2024
@sister_ratched @ariaflame @vincedownunder @rbreich i've always found farmers markets pretty expensive, as much as I like them.
Show threadJude🇵🇸Apr 3, 2024
@timrichards @ariaflame @vincedownunder @rbreich They aren't being gouged by the duopoly (but I find them cheaper, mostly) !!
Show threadTim RichardsApr 3, 2024
@sister_ratched @ariaflame @vincedownunder @rbreich Mind you, you're paying for quality at the markets in any case.
Show threadAriaflameApr 3, 2024
@sister_ratched @vincedownunder @rbreich True, Woolworths going up made a local IGA go out of business, but it tends to be more expensive anyway when I go to another one. (My parents worship at the church of Aldi 😜 )
Show threadbouriquetApr 2, 2024

@rbreich Competition? They all buy products from the same wholesale suppliers. The middlemen already have the monopoly on the products that most consumers are conditioned to buy.

PepsiCo Inc
The Kraft Heinz Co.
General Mills
Tyson Foods Inc.
Nestle SA. Switzerland. ...
Conagra Brands Inc. ...
Mars Inc. ...
Campbell Soup Co.

Show threadVoronApr 2, 2024
@rbreich the #ftc shouldn’t be outgunned by the corporations it goes after sometimes 10 to 1 in the number of lawyers on a case it’s absurd but exactly how the rich like it
Show threadM.S. Bellows, Jr.Apr 3, 2024

@rbreich When "inflation" is being driven by huge companies simply raising prices, the appropriate government response is to increase competition by breaking up their monopolies.

And the Biden administration, for the first time since Reagan took office in 1981, is doing exactly that: trustbusting.

Show threadMichael Bishop ☕Apr 3, 2024
@rbreich Every city needs a Winco Foods which is employee owned and afordable.
Show threadtimtacoApr 3, 2024
@rbreich To live it again is past all endeavor. Except when that tune clutches my heart. And there we are swearing to love forever. And promising never, never to part.
Show threadtimtacoApr 3, 2024
@rbreich literally make a bot to trade on these lyrics and no one needs to be studying the rates of change changing.
Show threadHumble Fan of Atty. WooApr 3, 2024

@rbreich

not in TX where there are 4 HEB's in Bryan/College Station.

Show threaddiskyApr 3, 2024
@rbreich I have very little faith in the FTC's ability to prevent mergers in 2024. They've been relatively unsuccessful in stopping the major ones like Activision-Blizzard. I hope they can do it but they just don't seem to have the ability/manpower to get it done.
Show thread@leamoreanne5Apr 3, 2024
@rbreich just look at Woolworths and Coles in Australia 🤬
Show threadScott KnowlesApr 3, 2024
@rbreich This in on consumers and their wallet. If you can, consider local or regional grocery stores. They're often offer better selection and different brands with similar prices.
Show threadDaemØnApr 3, 2024

@rbreich

Just to understand how bad it is in some places. If the merger goes through, 7 supermarkets near me will all suddenly be the same company. Of those, 4 of them were already merged (2 Vons and 2 Albertsons that kept their names post merger).

Show threadPhilipApr 3, 2024
@rbreich @zeldman Oh yeah, stop this! NZ has two chains, like Aus, and it’s bad.
Show threadAlex SteinbergApr 3, 2024
@rbreich
Show threadFrancis 🇾🇪 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️Jul 15, 2024
@rbreich if there’s only two main players aren’t prices just about fixed anyway?
Show thread@AlexBlock has movedJul 15, 2024
@rbreich Check out Canada too, where the Loblaw family of companies basically has a monopoly on big box grocery sales (there are a few competitors, but Loblaw has consolidated a huge part of the market). So much so that there is a national consumer boycott encouraging people to shop elsewhere...