Internal communications reveal instances when Kroger only lowered its prices after Albertsons did. Plus new evidence that C&S will struggle to manage over 550 divested stores.
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The FTC published a report confirming what many suspected about the role of profiteering in driving up food prices and aggravating shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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An FTC retrospective on the 2022 infant formula crisis highlights the ways public procurement policies contribute to industry consolidation and supply chain vulnerability.
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Antitrust enforcers dealt two major challenges to corporate power at different ends of the food supply chain over the past two weeks.
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DOJ and FTC set new standards for reviewing mergers and acquisitions that take a stronger stance against concentrated market structures, vertical integration, harms to suppliers, and more.
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One in six U.S. food service workers and one in five agriculture industry workers have signed a noncompete agreement. Banning these contracts could raise wages and entrepreneurship.
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The FTC alleges that Syngenta and Corteva maintained pesticide monopolies by paying distributors not to carry generic products. Pesticide firms aren’t the only businesses using pay-to-block schemes.
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Open Markets and Farm Action hosted farmers and other food business owners in Washington, DC to assess the Biden administration’s commitment to restoring fair competition in the food system.
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Farmers and food businesses urge antitrust enforcers to strengthen merger guidelines and fight consolidation.
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Antitrust agencies have had a light touch on vertical merger enforcement for decades. That may be about to change.
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Last week, the Governor of Maine signed a law granting loggers and haulers the right to bargain collectively with forest owners and sawmills. Previously, loggers and haulers have had difficulty striking better contract terms with timber buyers because antitrust laws against price fixing prohibit independent contractors from coordinating.
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At the National Retail Federation annual conference, retailers discuss how to use big data to personalize customer prices. Tactics include in-store cameras that track which products you’re examining, so Kroger can send you a coupon for chips as you’re still roaming the salsa aisle. Or if you buy cat food towards the end of the month, you’ll be e-mailed a special offer on the 25th, rather than showered with ads all the time. But do the savings outweigh the creepiness?
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