Small US grocers face impossible competition against major chains with direct manufacturer relationships and preferred pricing.

Small US grocers face impossible competition against major chains with direct manufacturer relationships and preferred pricing. Alap Vora, owner of Concord Market in Brooklyn, pays roughly five dollars wholesale for cereal that large supermarket chains sell at the same price, leaving no margin for independent stores. With over twenty-one thousand independent grocery shops accounting for one third of US grocery sales, these pricing pressures threaten small business viability. Vora testified before the Senate in May 2024 about fluctuating and opaque pricing structures from distributors. He recently closed a Manhattan location due to cost pressures, and reports little has changed since his testimony.