FTC complaint unsealed showing Pepsi, Walmart colluded to maintain higher wholesale prices at rival stores while giving Walmart exclusive discounts and premium shelf placement to crush competition and raise food prices economy-wide.

Secret Documents Show Pepsi and Walmart Colluded to Raise Food Prices Across the Economy

Last month, the Atlanta Fed came out with a report showing a clear relationship between consolidation in grocery stores and the rate of food inflation. Unsurprisingly, where monopolies prevail, food inflation is 0.46 percentage points higher than where there is more competition. The study showed that from 2006-2020, the cumulative difference amounted to a 9% hike in food prices, and presumably since 2020, that number has gone much higher.Affordability, in other words, is a market power problem. ...