Whole Foods -- A Monopoly?
By Monica @ 8:42 PM   
I don't think so.
But the Federal Trade Commission does.
Ryan Puzycki of The Undercurrent writes:
In 2007, Whole Foods, the popular purveyor of natural foods, sought to expand its business by acquiring rival grocer Wild Oats. However, the Federal Trade Commission claimed that the merger would violate antitrust laws by creating a natural foods monopoly. Although federal judges approved the deal, the FTC won an appeal a year later, after the merger was well under way, and now the case is set to go to trial in February. The company has already spent $17 million cooperating with the FTC and faces millions more in legal fees should the trial proceed.
This is so dumb.
And just on a practical level -- Whole Foods a "natural foods" monopoly? What is a "natural foods monopoly"? It's absurd. Even regular grocery stores have a wider array of natural foods now. And hasn't the government heard of farmer's markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs)?
Oh, wait, I almost forgot! The government wants to shut those down too! You cannot buy much besides vegetables at farmer's markets anymore, due to food safety regulations that prevent direct sales of anything produced in a home kitchen. Forget buying that loaf of Granny's bread. It could kill you, you know.
Honestly. If Whole Foods has to go out of business because of this nonsense, I'll be seriously pissed. Whole Foods is the only place that I can get the following items: Greek yogurt, olive oil that is not a fraud, coconut oil, palm oil, sprouted bread, raw milk cheeses, and non-preserved meats (except those from my farm, but demand is so high they are often sold out). Those are just the items I can think of right now.Labels: De-regulation, Government Idiocy, Rants and Whines
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1 Comments:
No matter what business you're in, the government can imagine some sub-sub-market in which you're a "monopoly" or threatening to become one.
I remember this wrangling over Haagen-Dazs and the "super premium ice cream" market.
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