Antitrust Chronicle^® – Retail Grocery Sector

Dear Readers,

Few sectors are as vital to modern life as the grocery industry. Napoleon famously derided the United Kingdom as a “nation of shopkeepers.” But in today’s urbanized, industrialized world, shopkeepers provide the link between nourishment and the people who require it.

Grocery businesses, as a key part of the economy (and indeed life in the 21st Century), are therefore subject to detailed antitrust scrutiny. This scrutiny of shopkeepers is the focus of this edition of the Antitrust Chronicle. 

Not unlike other sectors of the economy, grocery has seen great change over recent years. This is a result of multiple transformative trends: There has been a shift to online delivery services (accelerated by the recent pandemic), to mass-production of foods, and the growth of large multiples who enjoy massive economies of scale. All of the above complicates and emphasizes the need for careful antitrust review of conduct and M&A in the industry.

Yet not every antitrust authority has had the same approach, either over the decades or in relatively recent years. Benoît Durand underlines that competition authorities in Europe have adopted very different approaches to the competitive effect of mergers in grocery markets. Specifically, there have been substantial differences between the UK CMA, the German Cartel Office, and the French Competition Authority.

Indeed, as Dimitri Dimitropoulos, Renée M. Duplantis & Loren K. Smith highlight, particu