Is market concentration harming rural areas? [ABC 7:30 Report]

01 May 2014

What’s the role for co-operatives in maintaining business diversity in rural areas? The BCCM will make a submission to the National Review of Competition Policy emphasising the role of coops and mutuals in safeguarding genuine consumer choice and market competition.

Last night the 7:30 report examined how market concentration is increasingly hurting rural economies and towns.

Watch the report in full on ABC’s 7:30 Report: Will this move save smaller shops from the big supermarkets?, 30 April 2014

SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: More Australians shop at Woolworths and Coles than any other stores, but their dominance of the market has come at a cost to smaller businesses, unable to compete with their aggressive pricing regimes.

Unless there’s a change, critics say smaller shopping outlets may cease to exist.

So are the big players deliberately killing off their smaller competitors?