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High Cereal Prices and the Prospects for Relief by Expansion of Private Label and Antitrust Enforcement

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  • Ronald W. Cotterill

    (University of Connecticut)

Abstract

Congressmen Gejdenson and Schumer should be commended for their persistent interest in the performance of the ready to eat cereal industry. The release of their well documented and thorough report, "Consumers in a Box" a year ago focused media attention on high cereal prices, which in turn documented widespread consumer anger over this industry's performance. Today, the Congressmen have asked for an assessment of the factors that contribute to high cereal prices, and the outlook for consumer relief from the expansion of private label cereals, and more effective antitrust enforcement. This is no small task. I would like to begin by responding to the industry's rebuttal to the Congressmen's report. None of the cereal manufacturers has commented publicly on the Congressional inquiry. Instead, they have designated Mr. Jeffrey Nedelman of the Grocery Manufacturers of America as their common spokesman. The GMA's entire written response consists of a three page press release that contains seven "facts". The fact sheet is reproduced in the appendix.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronald W. Cotterill, 1996. "High Cereal Prices and the Prospects for Relief by Expansion of Private Label and Antitrust Enforcement," Issue Papers 11, University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:zwi:ipaper:11
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    File URL: http://www.zwickcenter.uconn.edu/documents/issuepapers/ip11.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Günter J. Hitsch, 2006. "An Empirical Model of Optimal Dynamic Product Launch and Exit Under Demand Uncertainty," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 25-50, 01-02.
    2. Nevo, Aviv, 2001. "Measuring Market Power in the Ready-to-Eat Cereal Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(2), pages 307-342, March.
    3. Cotterill, Ronald W & Putsis, William P, Jr & Dhar, Ravi, 2000. "Assessing the Competitive Interaction between Private Labels and National Brands," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(1), pages 109-137, January.
    4. Ronald Cotterill & William Putsis, 2000. "Market Share and Price Setting Behavior for Private Labels and National Brands," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 17(1), pages 17-39, August.
    5. Richards, Timothy J. & Patterson, Paul M., 2002. "Strategic Interaction With Multiple Tools: A New Empirical Model," Working Papers 28545, Arizona State University, Morrison School of Agribusiness and Resource Management.
    6. Reimer Jeffrey J, 2004. "Market Conduct in the U.S. Ready-to-Eat Cereal Industry," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-29, November.
    7. Mojduszka, Eliza M., 2001. "Integration Of A Product Choice Model And A Latent Variable Model Of Nutrition Information," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20678, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    8. Cotterill, Ronald, 1998. "Jawboning Cereal: The Campaign to Lower Cereal Prices," Issue Papers 161559, University of Connecticut, Food Marketing Policy Center.
    9. Cotterill, Ronald & Franklin, Andrew, 1998. "An Estimation of Consumer Benefits From the Public Campaign To Lower Cereal Prices," Issue Papers 161560, University of Connecticut, Food Marketing Policy Center.
    10. Gray, Thomas W., 2009. "Selecting a Cooperative Membership Structure for the Agriculture-of-the- Middle Initiative," Research Reports 280104, United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development.
    11. Eliza M. Mojduszka & Julie A. Caswell & J. Michael Harris, 2001. "Consumer choice of food products and the implications for price competition and government policy," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 81-104.
    12. Gregory K. Price & John M. Connor, 2003. "Modeling coupon values for ready-to-eat breakfast cereals," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 223-243.
    13. Bergès-Sennou Fabian & Bontems Philippe & Réquillart Vincent, 2004. "Economics of Private Labels: A Survey of Literature," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-25, February.
    14. Avi Goldfarb & Qiang Lu & Sridhar Moorthy, 2009. "Measuring Brand Value in an Equilibrium Framework," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(1), pages 69-86, 01-02.
    15. Richards, Timothy J. & Patterson, Paul M., 2006. "Firm-Level Competition in Price and Variety," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 38(3), pages 1-22, December.
    16. Herrmann, Roland & Moser, Anke & Werner, Elke, 2002. "Neue empirische Befunde zur Preissetzung und zum Verbraucherverhalten im Lebensmitteleinzelhandel," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 51(02), pages 1-13.
    17. Connor, John M., 1997. "Couponing As A Horizontal And Vertical Strategy: Theory And Effects," Working Papers 14344, University of Minnesota, The Food Industry Center.

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