Anti-monopoly group takes aim at the food industry
In an outspoken article for the Guardian this week Nicholas Shaxson, co-founder of the Balanced Economy Project, an anti-monopoly NGO, argues that monopolistic power in the UK’s food system is severely harming both producers and consumers. He argues that British farmers face unfair conditions and arbitrary order cancellations, leading many to financial loss.
Shaxson likens the concentration of power in the food supply chain to the neck of an hourglass. He attributes the rise of these monopolies to a regulatory shift in the 1970s that favoured corporate efficiencies over consumer and producer welfare, allowing mergers and acquisitions to proliferate unchecked.
He calls for a reversal of this trend, advocating for aggressive antitrust actions to break up conglomerates and increase competition. He argues that historical examples, such as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority forcing Facebook to sell Giphy, show that breaking up large firms is both possible and effective.