You’ve likely heard the term Big Pharma to refer to the pharmaceutical industry as a whole, but have you heard of Big Food? Many haven’t but when you look into who makes your favorite brands and who owns them, you might be surprised to find that you often come up with the same 11 names. The somewhat obscured truth is that most of today’s food market is owned by a handful of mega sized corporations! You will almost certainly recognize the names that make up big food but few realize the overwhelming reach of each company

For example, you walk into a grocery store to buy a drink and decide to go with a healthier choice so you pick up a Smartwater instead. Would you be surprised to find that you are still buying a Coca-Cola product? Maybe not but perhaps you would find it interesting that Coca-Cola makes Dasani and Vitamin water, too. Interesting when each of those companies claims to value different things in an effort to encourage the consumer to buy one over the other. If you are a new parent, you may have done quite a bit of research on picking the best diaper for your child. Luvs and Pampers are two of the leading brands and a 30 second search will yield a dozen articles giving you all the reasons you should pick one over the other. The material sourcing, the company’s reputation, the environmentally responsible practices of one versus the other. You probably guessed it but yes, they are owned by the same umbrella company. The same with Oral B and Crest or Gain and Bounce. In fact, all six of the brands just mentioned are made by the same Big Food player, P&G.

So, what’s the problem with the market being dominated by a few big brands when we, the consumers, seem to still be getting exactly what we want? First, you might have seen a simple but important problem with these examples which is the illusion of getting a deal or a better quality product when you compare between two brands you thought were in direct competition. Take away that element and there is nothing driving up the standard of production or ensuring that we are getting a fair price. If one company is setting the cheaper option’s price and the more expensive option’s price, then the whole range is nothing more than a constructed illusion devised to give us the appearance of a bargain. Additionally, it removes the balance of competition which prevents one company from setting prices that are ridiculously high for a specific item. Another issue is that it is harder for the consumer or even a large group of consumers to hold a company accountable for producing a low quality product when it is setting the industry standard. Only buying a certain type of product might influence one of the Big Food monsters to produce more of the more popular items but you will barely be affecting their bottom line.

So what can the consumer do to push back against these monster companies? First, shop for as much as you can outside of these beasts of commerce. Shop as locally as you can and for everything else, don’t be swayed by the comparison of the brands but buy the quality you need and pay less attention to who appears to make it. Get what you need and don’t buy into the illusion!

If you’d like to learn more about a specific brand and how they are doing with their global, ethical responsibility, here is one resource you can use!