In response to the announcement made Oct. 14 of a merger between national grocery chains, Kroger and Albertsons, the National Grocers Association released the following statement:
“A merger of the nation’s top two grocery chains should raise serious questions about a single supermarket giant gaining unprecedented dominance over the nation’s food supply chain,” said Greg Ferrara, NGA president and CEO.
“A merger would not only put smaller competitors at an unfair disadvantage, but also increase anticompetitive buyer power over grocery suppliers, which ultimately would harm consumers. It is our expectation that this deal will receive rigorous scrutiny from federal antitrust enforcers.”
NGA filed comments in April to the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division and U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s Jan. 18 request for information on merger enforcement. NGA issued a White Paperin March 2021 about the anticompetitive impacts of buyer power on the grocery supply chain.
Read more about the NGA’s position on antitrust at nationalgrocers.org/antitrust.
NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats.
The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers.
For more information about NGA, visit nationalgrocers.org.
To read more information about the merger between Kroger and Albertsons presented by The Shelby Report, click here.
