![\"comparison\"](\"http:\/\/financesonline.com\/uploads\/illusion-of-choice.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\nStanding in the supermarket\u2019s food section aisle you\u2019re confronted with hundreds of different products compounded by the happy proliferation of subcategories. You have a wide choice of grocery items at your fingertips. Or have you?<\/p>\n
A 2013 study by the U.S. consumer rights group, Food and Water Watch, examined the market share of 100 common grocery items and unearthed a disturbing trend: you\u2019re actually down to 2-4 big companies when buying most grocery items.<\/p>\n
We created this infographic to show how big food companies plan out their grocery domination in two directions. They either clutter their designated aisle with their own \u201ccompeting\u201d brands or they extend across other aisles to sell you other products.<\/p>\n
For instance, I Can\u2019t Believe It\u2019s Not Butter!, Shedd\u2019s Country Crock, Imperial, Promise and Brummel & Brown seem to be competing margarine brands, but they\u2019re all owned by Unilever. Similarly, ConAgra Foods owns Blue Bonnet, Parkay and Fleishmann\u2019s. Between the two giants alone you have eight supposed margarine choices. As much as 33 more categories are dominated by 2-4 big players. Clearly, that\u2019s not much of a choice.<\/p>\n
Likewise, through mergers, food companies get to own products that are traditionally outside of their core brands. Pepsi not only sells soft drinks and sports drinks, but also Mediterranean food, granola bars, hot cereal, popcorn, rice mixes, waffles and nuts. Similarly, Campbell Soup Co. sells beyond their iconic soup bases and offers Hispanic food, chilli and sloppy Joe sauce, fruit drinks, crackers and breads.<\/p>\n
We smell monopoly. But you have a choice. Farmers\u2019 markets offer a healthier option, where sellers are more likely to practice fair trade and their number is growing. The USDA reported there are 8,144 farmers markets now across the country, a shift from 5,000 in 2008. Admittedly, they\u2019re still far and few in between, but it\u2019s a bleep of hope in the increasingly monopolized grocery food business.<\/p>\n
CHECK THIS INFOGRAPHIC AND FIND OUT HOW LITTLE CHOICE YOU HAVE WHEN SHOPPING FOR FOOD:<\/p>\n