The Authority will focus on the role played by large-scale retail chains in the allocation of value added along the agri-food supply chain and in final price formation. Stakeholders may submit their feedback or observations by 31 January 2026

The Italian Competition Authority has launched a market investigation into the role of large-scale retail distribution in the agri-food supply chain, also in view of the widening gap between overall inflation and food price inflation recorded in recent years. In particular, ISTAT data show that between October 2021 and October 2025 food prices rose by 24.9%, almost 8 percentage points higher than the increase recorded over the same period by the general consumer price index (17.3%). Against this backdrop of rising consumer prices, agricultural producers frequently report squeezed margins, or at least insufficient margin growth, which may be partly due to the strong imbalance in bargaining power between farmers and major large-scale retail chains.

In the agri-food supply chain, the trading stage between final distributors and suppliers plays a pivotal role, as it affects both the level of remuneration of suppliers – and, as a result, the profitability of upstream production activities – and consumer price trends. In this context, the investigation seeks, among other things, to analyse how large-scale retail chains exercise their purchasing power, including through non-corporate aggregation arrangements (cooperatives, buying groups and super-buying groups); the fees charged to suppliers for sales-related services (including product listing, shelf placement, promotions, new product launches and trade spending); and the increasing importance of distributor-branded products (private labels).

Issues concerning the exercise of purchasing power by distribution chains are significant from a competition perspective, also because the management of purchasing activities, the provision of services to suppliers, and the procurement and positioning of private label products represent key competitive levers downstream among large-scale retailers and directly affect final price dynamics. The Authority has launched a public consultation on the issues outlined in detail in the decision opening the market investigation. Stakeholders may submit their feedback no later than 31 January 2026 at the following e-mail address: [email protected].

Rome, 14 January 2026

Text of the decision