Secondary Feature — Latest Stories

As Bird Flu Hits Dairy Cows, Consolidation Amplifies Risk

Consolidated food production is more vulnerable to disruptions from diseases and plays a role in spreading them.

Dairy, Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayApril 18, 2024Bird Flu, cattle, dairy, resiliency, Secondary Feature

Infant Formula Supply Chain Was Built to Break, FTC Report Reveals

An FTC retrospective on the 2022 infant formula crisis highlights the ways public procurement policies contribute to industry consolidation and supply chain vulnerability.

FTC Sues to Block Kroger-Albertsons Merger; USDA Finalizes Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Retaliation Rule

Antitrust enforcers dealt two major challenges to corporate power at different ends of the food supply chain over the past two weeks.

How California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard Entrenches Industrial Animal Farms and Local Pollution

The California Air Resources Board is weighing a change to its low carbon fuel standard, which critics say overvalues gas from livestock manure lagoons.

Policy, Dairy, Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayFebruary 23, 2024Methane, Biogas, California, climate change, Secondary Feature

HHS Partners With Instacart to Advance Food as Medicine

The federal government has tapped an unlikely accomplice, Instacart, to combat diet-related disease and expand “food as medicine” programs. Yet Instacart’s gig-worker business model drives the economic inequality at the root of nutrition disparity.

Washington AG Sues to Block Kroger-Albertsons Merger

Kroger and Albertsons sell over half of all groceries in Washington state. State antitrust enforcers say that their merger will raise prices and harm workers and they’re suing to stop the deal.

Private Equity’s Cold Storage Roll-Up Could Pay Off in 2024, but It Cost Small Food Companies

Just two companies control over 70% of cold storage in the US. Dozens of acquisitions shut small food companies out of chilled warehouse space. But new construction is on the rise.

Jury Finds Egg Companies Guilty of Price-Fixing

After 15 years in the courts, last week a federal jury found the two largest egg companies guilty of conspiring to cut the egg supply and raise prices.

Justice Department Challenges Information-Sharing Scheme Between Meat Processors

Agri Stats collects and shares detailed data on meat companies’ prices, wages, production levels, and profit margins. Antitrust enforcers say that meat packers used this information to fix prices and suppress wages.

EnforcementClaire KellowayOctober 5, 2023enforcement, agri stats, meatpacking, price fixing, DOJ, Secondary Feature

Private Equity Prompts Another Grocery Merger, Aldi and Winn-Dixie

After extracting hundreds of millions in dividends and navigating two bankruptcies, Lone Star private equity wants to sell Winn-Dixie to Aldi, further consolidating the Florida grocery market and putting thousands of jobs at risk.

RetailClaire KellowaySeptember 21, 2023grocery, Groceries, mergers, private equity, Aldi, Secondary Feature

Antitrust Enforcers Draft New Guidelines for Approving Mergers. Here’s What It Means for the Food Industry.

DOJ and FTC set new standards for reviewing mergers and acquisitions that take a stronger stance against concentrated market structures, vertical integration, harms to suppliers, and more.

Policy, EnforcementClaire KellowayAugust 10, 2023FTC, DOJ, merger guidelines, mergers, vertical integration, Secondary Feature

Bunge and Viterra’s Mega Merger Would Dramatically Consolidate Global Grain Trade

Bunge’s proposed merger with Glencore’s Viterra would be the largest grain trading deal in over a decade, creating a global agricultural commodity goliath to rival industry leaders Archer-Daniels-Midland and Cargill.