1. The FTC today sued Pepsi, the food and drink giant, for conspiring with one big box retailer to rig the price of its sodas and chips while ripping off small stores and grocers. Yes, this is about fairness, about bullying that creates food deserts. It's also about the end of the age of Walmart. - ThreadSky

ronmknox.bsky.social • 50 days ago

1. The FTC today sued Pepsi, the food and drink giant, for conspiring with one big box retailer to rig the price of its sodas and chips while ripping off small stores and grocers.

Yes, this is about fairness, about bullying that creates food deserts. It's also about the end of the age of Walmart.

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ronmknox.bsky.social•50 days ago

2. In the lawsuit, the FTC accuses Pepsi of giving one big retailer better prices and services than it gives anyone else, putting smaller, mom-and-pop shops at a deep disadvantage. It's the second time in a few weeks the FTC sued using it's retail fairness law, called the Robinson Patman Act.

ronmknox.bsky.social•50 days ago

3. The FTC's lawsuit and its press statement doesn't say Pepsi was giving those discounts and perks to Walmart, redacting the name of the retailer. But the press says its Walmart, and we know from many years of securities filings that Walmart is Pepsi's biggest and most important customer.

ronmknox.bsky.social•50 days ago

4. Pepsi says it relies on Walmart for a full 13% of its sales every year. If Pepsi somehow gets on Walmart's bad side, it could ruin its business - even for one of the biggest consumer goods companies on the planet.

That's Walmart wielding real power, and the FTC knows it.

ronmknox.bsky.social•50 days ago

5. Yes, the lawsuit is only about Pepsi. But as the majority statement says, Pepsi's discounts and discrimination against smaller stores happens "at [Walmart's] insistence."

This is exactly how Walmart built its retail empire, and broke the industry in the process.

ronmknox.bsky.social•50 days ago

6. If you comb through SEC filings, you'll find dozens of food and consumer goods companies admitting that they rely on Walmart for huge chunks of their sales, up to a quarter or more. They also say that their biggest customers demand the lowest prices, which they must agree to.

ronmknox.bsky.social•50 days ago

7. Walmart has used this power to punish its suppliers, and its biggest suppliers have changed their whole business model to meet Walmart's demands. Hence, the FTC's Pepsi lawsuit!

The fact that the lawsuit exists means the FTC wants Walmart's bullying business model to end.

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