Washington, D.C. – Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan toured a wholesale grocery distribution warehouse in the San Francisco Bay Area of California to hold the latest in a series of roundtables discussing retail challenges and what Washington is doing to enforce the nation’s long-ignored antitrust laws.
The event took place at PITCO Foods, which services 12,000 independently-owned convenience stores, grocery stores, liquor stores and food service operators in Northern California and Nevada.
PITCO President and CFO David Luttway led participants on a tour of his warehouse and laid out examples of the rampant price and package-size discrimination that make it difficult for independent grocers to compete against big chains on items ranging from coffee to cooking oil.
“We’re deeply honored that Chair Khan took the time to visit our warehouse to hear for herself the concerns we have as wholesalers and retailers competing against big national chains that refuse to fight fair,” Luttway said. “We face unfair pricing every day, and it hurts our businesses and our customers. Our message is very simple: We’re only asking for a level playing field.”
Also attending the event was Chris Jones, Senior Vice President of Government Relations for the National Grocers Association.
“PITCO is a massive operation, and it costs no more or less to send truckloads of products to them or another warehouse with a different corporate logo,” Jones said. “The real-life examples of marketplace discrimination Chair Khan is seeing today are a daily fact of life for independent grocers across this country, and we hope this will inspire action in Washington to update and enforce the nation’s antitrust laws.”
About NGA
NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.
