The Impact of Corporate Concentration on Food Prices
Prices for beef are reaching an all-time high as the summer barbecue season approaches. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of grilled sirloin averages more than $14 per pound, a 20% increase since last year.
This month, President Trump contemplated reducing tariffs on beef from certain countries, such as Argentina, but then reversed the decision. This move aimed to lower beef costs but would not solve the underlying issue: a highly concentrated industry that has dominated the meat supply for decades. In 2025, over 45% of all U.S. cattle were processed through just 11 plants, and by 2024, the top four packers controlled 80 to 85% of the domestic beef market.
Senator Chuck Schumer introduced a bill in March intending to dismantle leading beef-packing companies like JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill, and National Beef. Although the Trump administration typically avoided regulating large corporations, it launched investigations into beef and egg processors for potential antitrust violations during significant price increases.
The success of these investigations hinges on whether regulators pursue aggressive legal action following their findings. Schumer’s proposal could offer a structural remedy with bipartisan support, something notably absent in recent years.
The U.S. food system overall is highly consolidated, exploitative, and fragile. By 2020, two companies sold half of all fresh bread. By 2022, two others controlled around two-thirds of baby formula sales. In 2023, two companies produced approximately 60% of all carrots. This concentration results in persistently high food prices, which rose by roughly 30% between 2019 and 2025, as corporations exploited pandemic-related supply chain issues to increase both prices and profits.
This level of concentration did not occur naturally. It resulted from a long-standing failure to enforce anti-merger laws established since 1890. Starting with the Reagan administration, federal regulators from both parties adopted a laissez-faire stance towards corporate consolidation. Agencies like the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission embraced the belief from Wall Street that mergers could lead to efficiencies and lower prices for consumers.