Abstract

The impressive process of concentration in food retailing in all European countries is pushing down market power from production to distribution. In Italy concentration in distribution is not yet at the same level as in most European countries but it is following the same trend: a dramatic increase in the market power in the hands of few large retailers. Buyer power can be advantageous to the social interest. On the contrary, seller power can restrict competition in a relevant market. The trend towards concentration is inevitable and even if the enlargement to Eastern Europe can lower the average value, other issues will become important due to the tendency to aggregating buying operations of large retailers in a few pan-European centres.