ABC Four Corners feature on the Coles/Woolworths grocery duopoly

[submariner]

In Australia, Coles and Woolworths have an effective duopoly on the supermarket landscape. ABC News Australia's Four Corners programme goes in-depth to investigate allegations of price-fixing and the effects on local farmers who supply the two major grocery chains.

It's worth noting that the parent companies of Coles (Wesfarmers), and Woolworths (Woolworths Group) also own retail stores dominating the retail landscape, with Woolworths owning the Woolworths grocery chain and Big W discount stores (similar to a Walmart, minus grocery) and Wesfarmers having a massive retail portfolio including Coles supermarkets, Kmart, Target, Bunnings Warehouse (similar to Home Depot ot Lowe's) and Officeworks (similar to Staples or Office Depot). The latter two retail stores themselves having an effective monopoly in their market segment.

This should be raising massive alarm bells in the US with the Kroger-Albertsons/Safeway merger and *its* potential to impact American consumers as well.