Retail concentration

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Retail concentration refers to the market-share generally belonging to the top 4 or 5 mass distribution firms present in a regional market, as a percentage of the total.

Retail concentration is not simply a concentration ratio as is emerging in the food sector. This is due to two factors: the particular relevance retail is gaining on a global scale, and the particular shape of the food supply chain.

In recent years, Retail Concentration moved ahead with fusions and acquisitions [1] along the entire food supply chain. [2] We can assume with Grievink (2003) that in a few years there will be only 5 dominant actors in the globalised food chain. [3] The same researcher states that in the 90's the top-5 food manufacturers could count on twice the cash flow of the top-5 retailers. Nowadays the relation is inverted: the top 5 retailers can count on twice that of the top-5 manufacturers.[ citation needed ]

Thus, the food chain has become increasingly vertically integrated, with global corporations able to coordinate inputs from the seed to the field, from the stable to the table. Retail concentration by one hand is the answer that retail is giving to compete with the giants of agrofood industry. By the other hand, is the agrofood industry in itself searching to arrive directly to the consumers, through a refined relations system. In this process, private labels are increasingly attracting consumers, and are expected to grow more and more on their fidelisation strategy, beating on quality, safety and also ethical values. [4]

Recently the European Commission [5] proposed solutions to face with overall price increase about foodstuff. Among the measures proposed, several relate to the retail power recently acquired.

In particular, the payments delay to the producers; the additional fees asked to the producers to place on the shelves branded products; price transparency; better regulation on promotional activities and openings/closing time are all issues on the agenda.

For supporters, retail concentration means more chances for consumers, lower prices, better quality. For opponents, by the contrary, the disappearing of traditional shops, of food culture, of neighborhood life in general. [6] Furthermore, too much concentration means squeezing the price of industry and of agriculture, which can lead to outsourcing food from anywhere it can cost less, without a truly long term impact assessment.

Tim Lang (Food Wars, Earthscan London 2004) described the retail concentration phenomenon such as a "food war", in which winners and losers take place. Tim Lang talks about "food clusters" ([p. 84]) to better handle the idea of concentration along the entire food chain. There are a lot of legal instruments which allow to get more and more concentrated. Acquisition being the first one, follow mergers, joint ventures, partnerships and more not formalised contracts/ agreements. Note that the "hypermarketization" is not limited to the Western World, but supermarkets rise fast also in the less developed countries and in the East and in the South of the World. . [7] Regarding that, there are a lot of concerns, pretending that the overwhelming power of retailing is making poorer and poorer farmers, in particular in the LDC (Less Developed Countries). [8] The "crowding out" effect on local agricultures it is basically due to the global sourcing of the produces, wherever they cost less and offer more. To say it with the words of the Italian food-thinker Corrado Finardi to fairly function, the agricultural system has a different, slower timeline than the market (in agriculture counts the long term investment, while on the global market it is more important the precise moment in which supply and demand match).

See also

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The retail format influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services are exchanged. In some parts of the world, the retail sector is still dominated by small family-run stores, but large retail chains are increasingly dominating the sector, because they can exert considerable buying power and pass on the savings in the form of lower prices. Many of these large retail chains also produce their own private labels which compete alongside manufacturer brands. Considerable consolidation of retail stores has changed the retail landscape, transferring power away from wholesalers and into the hands of the large retail chains.

References

  1. ↑ "Consumers Drive Food Industry Transformation -- Global Brands, Retail Formats, Consolidation -- Says New Report | News | Capgemini | Consulting, Technology, Outsourcing". Archived from the original on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-12-10.[ full citation needed ]
  2. ↑ Hollingsworth, Andrew (2004). "Increasing retail concentration: Evidence from the UK food retail". British Food Journal. British Food Journal vol. 106. 106 (8): 629–638. doi:10.1108/00070700410553611. Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  3. ↑ "State of the Art in Food - Elsevier Food International". Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  4. ↑ http://www.foodinternational.net/articles/efi-special/583/private-labels-why-europe-is-leading-the-pack.html [ dead link ]
  5. ↑ http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/thematic_articles/article13524_en.htm Archived 2008-12-19 at the Wayback Machine [ full citation needed ]
  6. ↑ International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2006 3: 33 “Understanding environmental influences on nutrition and physical activity behaviors: where should we look and what should we count?”, Kylie Ball, Anna F Timperio and David A Crawford
  7. ↑ Chowdhury, Shyamal; Ashok Gulati; E. Gumbira Sa'id (June–December 2005). "The Rise of Supermarkets and Vertical Relationships in the Indonesian Food Value Chain" (PDF). Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development. 2 (1 & 2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
  8. ↑ http://www.agobservatory.org/library.cfm?RefID=46604 [ dead link ]
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