I don’t compliment the government often, but when I do, I like to shout about it. On October 27th of this year I posted a stern objection on this blog to the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons. That post can be viewed here. Based on my 40+ years in the food industry marketing to the national chains, I felt strongly that this action would stifle competition, lead to store closures, and would most definitely result in higher prices for consumers. It seems that the FTC agreed with me. Listed below is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal that the FTC is suing to block this $25 Billion merger.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Oregon, the FTC said the deal would lead to higher food prices and harm union workers’ bargaining power, and asked a court to block the companies from closing their deal on antitrust grounds.
“Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons would lead to additional grocery price hikes for everyday goods, further exacerbating the financial strain consumers across the country face today,” said Henry Liu, director of the FTC’s bureau of competition.
Meanwhile the management of Kroger and Albertsons, who most likely would receive big bonuses in a successful merger, continue to propagate the same old BS about lowering food prices and securing jobs in a combined entity. They say that the merger would allow them to better compete with Walmart and Amazon. Amazon? Really? The last time I checked, Amazon’s presence in the retail food industry was Whole Foods, otherwise known as Whole Paycheck by some. /wj
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