Increased concentration in ownership of retail and wholesale food companies in the United States naturally leads to the question "How does concentration of ownership affect consumers?" Does it lead to higher or lower food prices, better or worse service, more or less choice between stores and...

Energy costs are a major concern for supermarket operators, since they typically represent the third largest operating expense after the cost-of-goods sold and labor. Supermarkets may also be some of the largest customers of electricity in an area and have a high "base load" (stable) demand. In...

Rising rates of overweight and obesity pose a major challenge to the food industry. The industry has the opportunity to take positive steps to become part of the solution, rather than part of the problem, which is the increasing perception. By 1999-2000 almost two-thirds of American adults were...

The most efficient food delivery system in the world is becoming even more so with new electronic information gathered at the checkout counter and quickly transmitted to food distributors and manufacturers. In order to meet new competition in the retail market for food and food services,...

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) is working under the deadline of October 1, 2002, to coordinate a change from the current paper disbursement system of paper food stamps to an electronic transfer system of benefits, known as EBT. The Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture...

Electronic food retailers can satisfy their customers more effectively if they understand how this particular market works. As in other service segments, the emergence of electronic business-to-customer services in the retail food industry poses questions for managers about the design of new...

The Supermarket Panel collects data annually from individual supermarkets on store characteristics, operations, and performance. It was established in 1998 by the Food Industry Center as the basis for ongoing study of the supermarket industry. The Panel is unique because the unit of analysis is...

What role has the growing practice of eating out rather than at home played in the evolution of wages in retail food? Between 1983 and 1998, real wages fell for nearly all types of grocery store employees, whether they were relatively well paid, poorly paid, or somewhere in the middle. This...

Most retail food firms adhere to traditional human resources management practices, with employees enjoying little involvement in decision-making and little participation in company financial returns. More than one tenth of non-food firms have innovative human resources systems, with much...

The central hypothesis of this paper is that the largest global growth opportunity for high-value food products is the emerging middle class in many developing countries. Using data for Lima, Peru, 20 percent of households are classified as middle or upper class based on the prevalence of...