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Hi,
The proposed megamerger of grocery store chains Kroger and Albertsons will be a disaster, creating a grocery giant with the power to push food prices even higher into the stratosphere.1
In fact, unless this merger is stopped, just two massive corporations — the new Kroger-Albertsons behemoth and Walmart — will control 70% of the grocery market in 167 different cities. In some cities, they’d control more than 90%!2
They could jack up prices as high as they wanted, and consumers would have no choice but to pay.
Here's the good news: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the power to stop this deal, and FTC Chair Lina Khan has expressed major concerns about the deal.3 We've mobilized tens of thousands of supporters in opposition to the Kroger-Albertsons merger, but with the final decision from the FTC fast approaching, we need to turn up the heat now.
The lack of competition in the food industry has massively driven up food prices.
Cargill and just three other agribusiness companies control about 70% of the world's agriculture market.4 Just four companies control most of the beef, poultry, and pork processing in the U.S.5 Brands like PepsiCo and Nestle control the vast majority of the offerings found in U.S. grocery stores.6
This megamerger would make inflation worse and likely head off any possibility of prices ever coming down.
Kroger is the second-largest grocer in the U.S., behind Walmart, and Albertsons is fourth. Together, Kroger and Albertsons own about 5,000 stores, including stores operating as countless other brands, such as Shaw's, Jewel, Safeway, Vons, Harris Teeter ... the list goes on and on.7 So you may not even know you're actually shopping at Kroger or Albertsons.8
Pressure is growing on the FTC to block the deal, as state attorneys general, labor unions, and consumer groups have all made their voices heard. With your help, Demand Progress can turn up the heat even more by alerting our nearly 1 million supporters across email and social media about this rotten deal. Will you make a donation?
With gratitude for all that you do,
Tihi and the team at Demand Progress Action
Sources:
1. The American Prospect, "Proposed Kroger-Albertsons Merger Would Create a Grocery Giant," October 17, 2023.
2. Fast Company, "Why you should worry about the Kroger-Albertsons grocery store merger," October 19, 2023.
3. Supermarket News, "Former FTC policy director: Kroger, Albertsons merger is facing 'a hurricane storm,'" October 2, 2023.
4. Vox, "Prices at the supermarket keep rising. So do corporate profits." March 17, 2023.
5. PolitiFact, "'Big Four' meat packers are seeing record profits," June 30, 2022.
6. The Guardian, "Revealed: the true extent of America's food monopolies, and who pays the price," July 14, 2021.
7. Instagram post by More Perfect Union, October 20, 2022.
8. CNBC, "Kroger agrees to buy rival grocery company Albertsons for $24.6 billion," October 14, 2022.
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