In the game of grocery market power, shoppers are led to believe they are the winners. Although a handful of supermarket chains control the majority of food sold in the UK, the food giants tell us that we benefit from lower prices and greater choice.

In the game of grocery market power, shoppers are led to believe they are the winners. Although a handful of supermarket chains control the majority of food sold in the UK, the food giants tell us that we benefit from lower prices and greater choice.

Just four supermarket chains currently control more than 60 per cent of the market and the merger planned between Sainsbury’s and Asda would reduce it to three. But the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has intervened, saying – in a provisional verdict – that this proposed alliance, which would make “Sainsda” the UK’s biggest supermarket chain, would be unfair to competitors and food producers, and could result in higher, not lower prices for consumers.

I cheered on hearing the news – initially. It is time to curb the power of the food giants and make room for greater diversity in food shopping. I am not a fan of our supermarket culture, whose expansion destroyed the pleasures of shopping for food on the high street. The chains have squeezed farmers and suppliers on price to a point of impoverishment and for too long they have pushed low-quality processed foods on consumers, adding to the poor state of the nation’s health.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login