Uni-lever, Mars, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Kraft, Nestle, P&G, General Mills, Kellogs and Johnson and Johnson. These are the ten companies that rule over many of the brands you buy knowingly or unknowingly.
Ever wonder why you can't get a Coke at Taco Bell? It's because Yum! Brands was created as a spin-off of Pepsi--and has a lifetime contract with the soda-maker.
Unilever produces everything from Dove soap to Klondike bars. Nestle has a big stake in L'Oreal, which features everything from cosmetics to Diesel designer jeans.
No one is saying these companies are like Keiretsu's in Japan, although i will admit that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this diagram (see below). Considering most of this is retail I'm sure you can do this with other industries. What are your thoughts? Is it slightly disturbing that so few companies have controlling stakes in most of the food/bev products you consume?
Source http://www.businessinsider.com/these-10-corporations-control-almost-eve…
You just figured out that the U.S. is a plutocracy? George Washinton's family fortune was one of the originals. Welcome to real life.
Didn't Citi release an investor statement saying something about this?
"Everything" I buy? You mean just food and beverages.
tampons too
Pat, what brand do you use? I am trying to switch up from mine
.
Link isn't working.. need to get rid of the period at the end.
There are massive economies of scale and scope in retail due to sales and distribution chains. This doesn't bother me at all. In fact, consolidation probably means I get my products cheaper than I otherwise would. As long as there is at least one or two big competitors per industry to compete on price and quality (not to mention private label brands) there is sufficient price pressure to keep things from getting out of hand.
Indeed, everything here depends on yuor choice and reliability of the brand. If the company has enough stuff and budget to develop further with your needs, it'll be the best one. Why not choose such?
Church & Dwight receives 99% of all my purchases on "leisure items"
You clearly forgot Arm & Hammer
Has anyone tried out 'Trader Joes'? I believe they produce all their own products and they are super cheap.
They are also a better place to work then Goldman Sachs according to Econwatch on CBS.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-503983_162-503983.html?categoryId=10430
[quote=Texsun]Has anyone tried out 'Trader Joes'? I believe they produce all their own products and they are super cheap.
They are also a better place to work then Goldman Sachs according to Econwatch on CBS.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-503983_162-503983.html?categoryId=10430[/qu…]
Trader Joe's: where mid-20s males and mid-30s females go to "network" with each other
And let's be honest, anywhere is a better place to work than Goldman Sachs.
[quote=Texsun]Has anyone tried out 'Trader Joes'? I believe they produce all their own products and they are super cheap.
They are also a better place to work then Goldman Sachs according to Econwatch on CBS.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-503983_162-503983.html?categoryId=10430[/qu…] LOVE trader joes
[quote=Texsun]Has anyone tried out 'Trader Joes'? I believe they produce all their own products and they are super cheap.
They are also a better place to work then Goldman Sachs according to Econwatch on CBS.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-503983_162-503983.html?categoryId=10430[/qu…]
They had a trader joe's around where I went to school but sadly they also had a whole foods, which was definitely the nicer of the two stores (at least in my area). Also love Wegman's
i remember seeing some video of a guy eating 3 tampons in one minute a while back on youtube, so i guess food and tampons can be one and the same
I have no problem with a corporation controlling so many brands. There is a certain level of security for a consumer to choose Crest or Tide versus some generic knock off, and more power to the companies that make them for having such strong brands.
Yeah, most of your food is industrialised garbage...
Have you not see Food Inc? Great film...
Please don't repeat nonsense about choice, low costs, etc... under the current system. Oligopolies and monopolies don't result in good outcomes for consumers or society... (concentration of power, regulatory capture, negative externalities and for you econo-fundamentalist it also results in deadweight losses / allocation inefficiencies and let's not forget government subsidies).
With the non-food products I love how loyal some people are to brands when the product is essentially the same as the next one... I bet in most cases they come off the same assembly line. If you have any marketing / advertising / product branding friends ask them a little about their jobs. You'd be surprised at how easily they manipulate the masses (i.e. you / us). Crest Vs. Colgate? Might as well go generic, it's the same crap.
OP welcome to reality
I blame investment bankers.
If a new company for foods or beverages start are they immidiately bought out?
Interesting how Coke is the most popular out of the 10 yet only deals with its own products. All the other haters have to keep branching out to compete.
So then what happens when i buy a handle of georgi? Who wins in that situation?
Your liver certainly doesn't
I don't see why people think this is necessarily a bad thing. These companies handle the infrastructure for daily life, and the amount of tedious work involved in doing so is largely kept out of sight. Do YOU want to run supply chains?
In a way, this is history repeating itself along the lines of trusts being built up early last century. This time around, however, the technology exists to support them and they actually produce something. The thing that I think firghtens most people is how unaccountable these organizations are to the publice: we really have no say beyond voting with our dollars, which is a poor substitute for actual democracy, so keeping an eye on these companies is wise.
I largely agree with your last statement. Even though you may think you have a choice, it is all really one brand or another. They may be good brands which create an efficient consumer experience, but the lack of competition is a little astonishing.
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