Peter's Memo: Supermarket mergers, slotting fees, ads harm shoppers

How supermarket mergers raise prices 

Higher prices. Shuttered stores. Less competition. That’s what the proposed merger of two supermarket giants—Kroger and Albertsons—would mean, charged a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general in February.

Kroger operates Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Harris Teeter, King Soopers, and Quality Food Centers. Albertsons operates Haggen, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Pavilions, and Safeway. Together, they would control more than 5,000 stores in 48 states.

The problem: If Albertsons and Kroger control the stores in your area and they all raise the price of bread, milk, or eggs, you have no choice but to pay up.

Slotting fees and online ads promote junk food

Supermarkets already have cozy deals with brands to lower competition.

For example, Coca-Cola and Pepsi can pay chains exorbitant “slotting fees” to place their sodas in checkout aisles, end-of-aisle displays, and eye-level shelves, where shoppers are most likely to see them. When was the last time you saw fruits or vegetables—rather than chips or soda—at the end of an aisle?

Companies also influence online shoppers. They can pay to ensure that their brands appear in pop-up ads and email promos and at the top of search results.

In 2021, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (Nutrition Action’s publisher) called on the FTC to investigate those practices. And later that year, the FTC asked supermarkets and food companies (including Kroger) for confidential information about slotting fees and other trade promotion practices.

That investigation is ongoing. Kudos to the current FTC leadership for working to protect consumers, not huge corporations.

Dollar stores lack healthy foods

On a separate front, we’re working to get healthier foods into dollar stores, the fastest-growing segment of the retail food industry. Those stores typically sell sugary, salty processed foods and little, if any, fresh produce.

In October, we released a national survey of 750 people that found that most shoppers want their local dollar stores to sell healthier items.

So we’ve launched the “Don’t Discount Families, Dollar General” campaign. Its goal is to push Dollar General to stock more stores with the fruits, veggies, baby food, and other foods that are required for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. 

Its goal is to push Dollar General to stock more stores with the fruits, veggies, baby food, and other foods that are required for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.

Stores that accept WIC benefits make healthy food more accessible to families with lower incomes...and to all shoppers. We’ll keep pushing for food that protects both you and your pocketbook.

We’ll keep pushing for food that protects both you and your pocketbook.

Stores that accept WIC benefits make healthy food more accessible to families with lower incomes...and to all shoppers.

We’ll keep pushing for food that protects both you and your pocketbook.