Coles and Woolworths buy big independents to help protect dominance, IGA says

Major supermarkets’ takeover strategy prevents smaller grocers from growing into stronger competitors, inquiry hears

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Coles and Woolworths “pick off” large independent stores in a takeover strategy that prevents the smaller grocers from growing into more formidable competitors, an inquiry heard on Thursday.

Grant Ramage, an executive at IGA and Foodland brand owner Metcash, said the amount of groceries flowing through their network, which it relies on to build competitive supply and distribution chains, was threatened by the acquisition strategy used by Australia’s major supermarkets.

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