How to define markets for food distributors
This morning two food industry titans face off against federal antitrust authorities in court. The issue: whether a proposed mega-merger in the wholesale business would aggregate too much market power, and quash competition.
The two companies are national giants in food distribution: U.S. Foods and Sysco. They sell meat, produce and paper goods to chain restaurants and hotels.
The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the merger, arguing the combination would control 75 percent the national market. The FTC is seeking a preliminary injunction.
Sysco and U.S. Foods say a merger still leaves a lot of space for competition at the local level.
The two sides will appear in federal court for at least four days.
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