A new study by Rebalance Now and Misereor shows: A few corporations are increasingly controlling agricultural supply chains. This drives up prices, penalises smaller farms in Europe and worldwide and favours unfair trade practices. The publishers of the study are therefore calling for reforms in antitrust policy: large mergers between companies must be scrutinised more strictly and rules against unfair trading practices must be updated and implemented consistently. The German government has taken initial measures with regard to petrol prices. The study shows that this is also urgent in the food sector.
"A few corporations determine what grows in the fields, what prices are paid, what ends up on supermarket shelves and on our plates," says Ulrich Müller, CEO of Rebalance Now and author of the study. "Farmers and consumers, on the other hand, have little negotiating power and are at a disadvantage. Especially in times of rising living costs, further monopolisation of supply chains must be prevented." In Germany, Edeka, Rewe, Aldi and the Schwarz Group (Lidl, Kaufland) control over 87 per cent of the food retail sector. In addition, market concentration is also high in the processing of agricultural products and in seeds, fertilisers and agricultural machinery.
Unfair competition exacerbates poverty worldwide
"A handful of corporations are making profits while driving agricultural producers into ruinous undercutting competition. They dictate prices that often do not even cover costs - and force farmers in the Global South in particular to the brink of their existence. Even if prices rise in the supermarkets, little of it reaches them",
says Wilfried Wunden, fair trade expert at Misereor "The concentration of power in the agricultural sector means that companies from the Global South can hardly defend themselves against unfair business. If they complain, they risk losing market access for their cocoa, coffee or fruit and vegetables."
Edeka wants to take over tegut - cartel office called in
The study highlights the weaknesses of cartel policy: Methods of analysis are inadequate, proceedings often take too long, the burden of proof is high and there are gaps in international enforcement. As a result, antitrust law cannot adequately fulfil its most important task: limiting the growing economic power of individual corporations. Müller appeals: "We need stronger restrictions on large company takeovers. For example, the Federal Cartel Office should prohibit the currently planned takeover of over 200 tegut shops by Edeka."
