This article assesses, from the perspective of a European academic, the intense wave of acquisition and merger driven consolidation that swept through the U.S. food retail industry during the late 1990s. It reviews the characteristics and causes of that consolidation wave, placing emphasis on...

This paper dissents from Cotterill's argument that the food system of the 21st Century is more likely to converge towards a US manufacturer-led model than a UK retailer-led model. By outlining critical features of the ten-year experience of leading UK food retailer, J. Sainsbury PLC, in the US,...