New data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found there are fewer places to buy groceries with each year that passes, but the consolidation is especially high in rural areas.
The USDA report shows the percentage of grocery sales from the nation’s top 20 retailers more than doubled from 1990 to 2020. The consolidation was more pronounced in rural areas.
“Food retailing markets in rural and small non-metro counties are considerably more concentrated than food retailing markets in metro and large non-metro counties,” the report stated.
