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by pix128 1182 days ago
Many industries don't have many manufacturers or operate on different regions. You get an illusion of choice at the grocery store, but many times the a single factory produces product under a dozen different brands.
2 comments

Well, even in a highly competitive industry like lumber, with many manufacturers competing daily for the sale of identical products, we saw significant price increases. This due almost entirely to a dramatic increase in demand relative to supply. So much has been said about supply constraints and greedy corporate shenanigans, but lumber is an excellent example of neither being true. I think the inflation we're experiencing is a product of people spending more money, and having more money to spend, likely as a direct result of historic and unprecedented federal stimulus. And I attribute fault to both parties. Trump juicing the economy at the top of the business cycle, Biden blowing the lid off, and "it's-only-transitory" Powell keeping rates too low for much too long.
This is a good point. I think canned vegetables, in particular, are processed in just a few factories and just have different labeling.