contents

• The ERS produce markets project
• Industrial organization of food markets
• Food and beverage manufacturing
• Food wholesaling
• Food retailing
• Food service
• The U.S. food and fiber system

features
The Demand for Food Away from Home: Full-Service or Fast Food?—As Americans grow more affluent and time-stretched, they spend more dollars on food away from home than at home. Fast food and full-service restaurants must continually jockey for this revenue. The fast food segment had once grown accustomed to an ever-increasing market share. Those days now appear to be behind them. This report examines the shift in consumer demand that might alter the competitive dynamics of the away-from-home market. A two-page Research Brief is also available.

U.S. Fresh Produce Markets: Marketing Channels, Trade Practices, and Retail Pricing Behavior—Retail consolidation, changing consumer demand, marketing practices, and new technology have transformed U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable markets in the past decade. This capstone report synthesizes results of a multiphase project that examined the dynamics of produce markets, the produce shipper-retailer relationship, and how these changes affect the relative market influence of producers, retailers, and consumers. See The ERS produce markets project for background information and a complete list of publications related to the project.

The U.S. Food Marketing System, 2002—This report focuses on recent trends in the food supply chain. Chapters on food manufacturing, wholesaling, grocery retailing, and food service provide a detailed overview of structure, performance, information systems, new technology, and foreign direct investments. The report also contains a comprehensive set of appendix tables containing sales, concentration, trade, productivity, and other indicators. Also see related data on Food Market Indicators.

ERS's magazine, Amber Waves, has several "gleanings" on current activities at ERS in food market structures, including fast food in urban areas, and growth in contracting between agricultural processors and producers. The magazine also features articles on U.S. hog and poultry marketing and consumer attitudes towards biotech foods. The November issue looks at the evolution of agribusiness with the feature From Supply Push to Demand Pull: Agribusiness Strategies for Today’s Consumers.

Vertical Coordination of Marketing Systems: Lessons From the Poultry, Egg, and Pork Industries—The report examines the role of contracts and vertical integration in reducing transaction costs. The report further explores benefits from new methods of vertical coordination and the implications for future research.

Consolidation in U.S. Meatpacking—Today, the four largest firms handle 80 percent of all cattle slaughter. This report summarizes the development of concentration in meatpacking and identifies scale economies, price competition, and slow demand growth as important causes.

recommended readings
Food Manufacturing Productivity and Its Economic Implications—The gross-output multifactor productivity index for U.S. food manufacturing grew 0.19 percent per year between 1975 and 1997. Compared with productivity growth in the whole manufacturing sector this growth is low. Although productivity growth has been relatively low, food manufacturing output has annually grown 1.88 percent over the last two decades. Indeed, the expansion of combined factor inputs provided significant impetus to food manufacturing output. For a short summary of the report, see the related ERS Research Brief.

Structural Change in U.S. Chicken and Turkey Slaughter—There are substantial scale economies in poultry slaughter. As a result, the share of production held by plants with more than 400 employees rose from less than 30 percent in 1972 to more than 80 percent by 1992. Further consolidation may be limited by environmental concerns associated with poultry production.

Vertical Coordination in the Pork and Broiler Industries: Implications for Pork and Chicken Products—New methods of organizing production in the broiler industries led to lower costs, more production, lower retail prices, and more uniform quality. Similar developments have occurred in the pork industry, where a need for more quality improvement may lead to further vertical coordination.

Understanding the Dynamics of Produce Markets: Consumption and Consolidation Grow—Consumers more than doubled their purchases of fresh produce between 1987 and 1997. Consumer demand for produce has shifted among product types, while retailers and wholesalers are consolidating. More produce is moving through foodservice channels, and food stores are selling more partially prepared (peeled and cut) produce.

The Food and Fiber System: Contributing to the U.S. and World Economies—U.S. agricultural industries, from inputs through farming to food service, respond to changes in the US and world economies. Globalization of food industries, technological change, consumers' desire for convenience, and concerns with diet and health are affecting food and agricultural industries.

recommended data products
Food Market Indicators—Overall statistics describing economic activity related to food production and distribution from the farm to the domestic or international consumer. The database provides information on the supply, demand, structure, and economic health of the U.S. food system and indicators that are useful in determining how well the system serves its consumers and producers.

recent research developments
Traceability in the U.S. Food Supply—The ERS Briefing Room outlines the economics of traceability, including private sector motivations for tracking food production and distribution. Links to resources on related issues cover traceability, food labeling, and the evolving food marketing system.

Understanding Structural Change in the Food Industry—Articles in this issue of FoodReview include: Poultry Plants Lowering Costs and Increasing Variety; Large Companies Active in Changing Dairy Industry; Evolving Marketing Channels Reveal Dynamic US Produce Industry; Cereal Sales Soggy Despite Price Cuts and Reduced Couponing; Grocery Retailers Demonstrate Urge To Merge.

related briefing rooms

• Food consumption
• Food CPI, prices, and expenditures
• Food marketing and price spreads
• Traceability in the U.S. food supply

related links
Bureau of Labor Statistics—Monthly data on employment, regular and overtime hours for production workers, and hourly earnings for detailed food processing industries in Current Employment Statistics. Monthly price data for food and agricultural products in the Consumer Price Index, the Producer Price Index, and various international price indexes. Annual statistics on productivity and job safety by industry.

Census Bureau—Wide range of data on food processing establishments in the Economic Census, conducted every 5 years, which provides information on establishment numbers, value added, materials usage, and value of shipments by detailed industry and geographic region. Information on concentration by industry. Data on shipments, value added, and employment by industry through the Annual Survey of Manufactures, plant location and employment through the annual County Business Patterns survey, financial information through the Quarterly Financial Report and the Annual Capital Expenditures Survey, and monthly production and inventory data for selected industries through the Current Industrial Reports program.

See all related links...

glossary
Defines terms from concentration to vertical coordination.

for more information, contact: Mark Denbaly
web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
page updated: August 16, 2004