U.S. regulators and nine state attorneys general are suing to stop the $24.6 billion merger of Kroger and Albertsons, the country's two largest supermarket chains.
The companies have presented the deal as existential to surviving in the grocery business today. But the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oregon on Monday, says it's anticompetitive.
The Federal Trade Commission argues that Kroger's purchase of its biggest grocery-store rival would form a colossus that would lead to higher prices, lower-quality products and services, and "eliminate fierce competition" for both shoppers and workers.
The companies have argued that together they could better face stiffening competition from Amazon, Walmart, Costco and even dollar stores. In fact, Kroger on Monday argued the FTC's rejection of the merger would lead to higher food prices and fewer grocery stores.
"This decision only strengthens larger, non-unionized retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon by allowing them to further increase their overwhelming and growing dominance of the grocery industry," a Kroger spokesperson said in a statement.
Albertsons shared a similar statement, adding that the FTC's view of the grocery industry is "outdated" and it looked forward to presenting its views in court. The case is likely to go to trial in the coming months.
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The Mac and Cheese Journey
Let me start out this post by giving a little history lesson about Kraft mac and cheese. Let me quote this article from CNN in 2016:
Kraft Changed Its Mac & Cheese Recipe and Nobody Noticed
by David Goldman @DavidGoldmanCNN
March 8, 2016: 10:00 AM ET
Notice anything different about your mac & cheese lately?
No? Don't worry, nobody else did either.
Kraft Heinz removed artificial preservatives, flavors and dyes from its mac & cheese recipe in December. To keep its yellow-orange glow, Kraft swapped out artificial food colors, including yellow 5 and yellow 6, for natural spices like paprika, annatto and turmeric.
The new mac & cheese also doesn't use artificial preservatives. (It maintains the natural preservatives, however, including 720 mg of sodium per serving -- 1,710 mg per box, which is 72% of your daily recommended salt intake.)
The company has sold more than 50 million boxes of the new mac & cheese so far.
Kraft launched a marketing campaign Monday, starring former "Daily Show" and "Late Late Show" host Craig Kilborn. The company is calling it "the world's largest blind taste test."
"As we considered changing the ingredients of our classic Blue Box, we did so knowing we had to maintain our iconic look, taste and texture," said Greg Guidotti, Kraft Heinz's vice president of meals, in a statement. "We'd invite Americans to try our new recipe, but they most likely already have."
I'm sorry, I noticed. I noticed immediately when my noodles started taking more than 7 minutes to cook. Then, the mac acquired a smell to it that I can only describe as urine-esque. Then Kraft ripped my heart out, put turmeric on it to make it yellow, and fed it back to me.
I don't eat mac and cheese to be healthy. I eat it because I like cheesey noodles and I'm too lazy or tired to cook something real.
Give me the fake everything. Cancer mac, my beloved.
So I now present to you, my journey to find a store brand mac and cheese that might taste like my sweet sweet mesothelioma powdered cheddar goodness.
First, since it's been a couple of years, I decided to get Kraft one last chance.
5/10 Stars. Turmeric does not belong in mac and cheese. Still smells like urine. You broke my heart Fredo. (I wish this was Alfredo so I could make a better joke.)
Next is Kroger Brand Mac
I was definitely apprehensive as it is "all-natural" too. What's so natural about mac and cheese any way? The cheese is friggin' powder.
2/10 Stars - Noodles took nearly 10 minutes to cook and the mix smells so weird I thought I was going to die.
Next, because it was next to the Kroger brand, I said "What the hell - Cheetos Mac is going into the cart too."
6/10 - It's better than Kraft and tastes like Kraft Easy Mac in 2005. But the noodles taste like hamburger helper noodles. The more you eat it, the more gross it gets. I felt sick afterward. Costs almost $4 a box.
I get the majority of my groceries at Food Lion, this store is sprinkled across the south and their store brand items are usually very very good.
7/10 - Better than all the other ones so far - but mostly just Okay. The cheese has a red tint to it which is kind of off-putting. I wouldn't seek it out.
Finally, we have our winner:
10/10 - Tastes like Kraft used to taste before they went cuckoo bananas and broke my heart. Publix, you are amazing. This only costs 99 cents. I've missed this taste so much in the last seven years, I've eaten about 3-4 boxes of the Publix brand in the past week.
Thank you for taking this journey with me.
I did the hard work so now you don't have to.
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If any gimmick blog thats ok with me mentioning them in a chain, post, whatever sees this could you reblog or comment or something pretty please so I can make a list
I’d like to refrain from @ing someone who doesnt want me to
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Here’s something you don’t really see anymore. I don’t think I’ve seen one in 25 or 30 years. This is an actual neighborhood Kroger store before they changed over to being all giant stores. This one is on Wayne Avenue in Dayton Ohio.
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