These quick facts about the business may be of interest to others:

The US grocery business is nearly a $600 billion dollar industry that is end of the food industry chain. Selling food products to consumers at the retail level is a quickly changing business. In addition to changes in consumer demands, retailers are dealing with rising prices, volatile fuel costs, and the blurring of retail trade channels. Traditional supermarket and grocery executives must cope with the fact that Wal-Mart sells more food than any other retailer. Conventional food retailers now compete not only with Wal-Mart but with Costco and other warehouse chains, as well as other alternative retail formats that offer an array of food products to their cost-conscious customers.

Things are not much easier for manufacturers and their brand managers as they must fight for the hearts and wallets of consumers who they are increasingly drawn towards private label and store brand food products. Manufacturers that had once dominated retailers are now finding that mega-retailers hold the upper hand and sometimes find that they are in co-opetition with each other. The fight for shelf space involves hard negotiations that often requires that manufacturers serve as a sales partner by providing in-store merchandising services and stepped up promotional programs.

At the heart of all food marketing and retailing operations lies the consumer. The power of consumers is strong and growing stronger as a result of fierce competition, difficult economic times and new technology. And yet typical profit margins remain less than 2% in the grocery industry. Low profit margins and a consumer searching for the most value means that an industry that used to include a robust network of food brokers is now consolidating.