Why has accessing food become a survival issue?

Happy 103rd anniversary of the August 30, 1922 Victory Day, which resulted in the victory of the Turkish nation against imperialism and their puppet Greek armies.

I commemorate Commander-in-Chief Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms with respect, longing, and love.

                                                                 ****

While there are many current topics today, the question "Why has accessing food become a survival issue?" may come to mind.

However, among the daily problems of our people, the issue of accessing food stands out.

Accessing food in Turkey is becoming increasingly difficult.

The most important of the constraints in accessing healthy and affordable food is foreign-dependent agricultural policies.

To this, it must be added that our people living in cities have increasingly come under the full control of the food industry and organized food retail markets, which are becoming monopolized and alienated.

In other words, in the process from production to marketing, the dominance of the food industry and organized food retail markets, which are becoming monopolized and alienated, is in question.

Are most of us aware of this? Or are there any parties of ours that voice this? Are we experiencing an almost inevitable surrender on this issue as well?

How was monopolization and alienation realized in the food sector?

The policies applied to developing countries can be summarized as the liberalization of trade, the reduction and removal of public regulations (privatization, etc.), equal treatment for foreign capital, and even advantages, and economic stability programs (essentially the reduction of labor wages).

In short, a new trade and investment environment has been created for multinational firms with the aforementioned policies.

Thus, privatized public companies and domestic firms began to be bought by multinational companies. There are those who call this losing to competition. (?)

The small producer was left out of the agriculture and food sector or forced to sell goods more cheaply.

New production and marketing techniques were introduced in the food industry.

The monopolized and alienated food industry began to market its products at a higher rate through supermarket/hypermarket chains. In this way, profit margins were high.

At the same time, profit transfers were made possible. The balance of payments of developing countries was gradually deteriorated in this way as well.

New pursuits and aspirations were created for the strata created and enriched by urbanization and the deterioration of income distribution. These began to turn towards a consumer society and foreign products in the name of modernization.

In developing countries, it was conveyed to and adopted by brains that the solution to some problems in the marketing chain, such as quality and food safety, could be possible with foreign firms.

Do we know about monopolization and alienation in the food sector?(*)

Shall we give a few examples?

Seven companies manage the milk and dairy products market. Pınar, Ülker, and Danone are the largest. Then come SEK, Yörsan, and Dimes.

In the pasta market, there is the dominance of four companies. Ankara, Filiz, Piyale, and Pastavilla are in the top ranks in the sector. The market shares of the mentioned firms exceed 70%.

Baby food is under the monopoly of domestic+foreign partnerships and foreigners. Their share is 90%. Group Danone and Ülker Hero Baby are the largest in the baby market.

In the oil market, 65% of the installed capacity and 80% of the market have become foreign-owned. The main actor in liquid oils is the Saudi Savola Group.

Almost the entire beer market is foreign-owned. Three-quarters belong to Efes Pilsen and the rest to an Israeli firm.

In instant coffee, the dominance is with Nescafé. It controls two-thirds of the market.

Nearly 90% of the margarine industry belongs to Unilever, Ülker, and Marmara Gıda.

The chocolate market is dominated by Ülker, while the confectionery industry has fallen into the hands of Schweppes.

What is happening in food retail in Turkey?

It is seen that 5-6 large store chains dominate the markets in food worldwide. These can be listed as the US-based Walmart and Kroger, French Carrefour, Dutch Ahold, German Metro, and British Tesco.

In Turkey, organized food retail has also become monopolized and alienated with the opportunities provided to multinational hypermarkets.

Today, it is observed that food retail has largely come under the control of domestic and foreign monopolies such as Carrefour, Migros, Metro, and Tesco.

As everywhere in the world, small and medium-sized food retailers in Turkey are experiencing a process of extinction. The number of grocery stores in the sector is rapidly decreasing, and small tradesmen are closing their shops without making a single sale.

Even large producer firms are gradually losing their bargaining and sanction power against monopolized and alienated companies.

Producer firms have to pay many costs to the monopolies engaged in organized food retail to market their goods.

Among these, costs such as shelf fees, free products, gondola fees, fees for stores opened in Turkey, reduction of product variety, not determining the product price in advance, debt invoices, and private label product fees can be counted.

Let alone small producers, even large producers are in a difficult situation.(**)

Organized food retail firms delay payments in commercial relations, both in production and in purchases. The payment period varies between 120–150 days. However, this period is limited to 30–60 days in Western countries.

The costs imposed on producer firms or supplier firms are, in the final analysis, reflected on agricultural producers, in other words, farmers. Farmers are forced to sell their products more cheaply.

The alienation of the retail sector has gradually begun to negatively affect Turkey's production sector as well.

Today, almost half of the products marketed in markets dominated by foreign monopolies come from abroad. This pulls down production and fuels unemployment.

In the alienated retail sector, the reliability and utility of food are open to debate. Additives are used in food to extend shelf life and prevent spoilage. This situation negatively affects the reliability and utility of food.

In the retail sector, demands regarding consumers' right to information and feedback are not fast enough.

Let us repeat and ask. Is accessing healthy and affordable food in our country not a survival issue?

In our cities, obesity is well above the European average among our people who cannot access healthy and affordable food, and on the other hand, growth retardation is observed in our children.

What is the origin of monopolization and alienation in the food sector?

The origin of the monopolization and alienation that emerges in the food industry and retail from production to the marketing stage is the political-economic preferences called the foreign-dependent free market economy.

This is the path followed by the sovereigns for capital accumulation.

The option is not "We will manage better." I think the fundamental question that our people should ask opposition politicians who go out into the field should be, "With what policies will you increase production and make income distribution more balanced when you come to power?"

(*):(For more detailed information about the state of monopolization and alienation in the food sector in Turkey, see): Oral N. Mülkiye Derneği, Spring, 2009 Vol:23, Issue:262.

(**):(See: https://www.istegundem.com/haber/sutas-in-raf-kavgasinda-ikinci-perde/270362)

According to news reflected in the media, a fight took place between Sütaş, Turkey's largest milk producer, and Migros regarding the marketing of its products. Sütaş had stopped shipping goods to Migros for a long time. Afterwards, the parties sat down at the table again and a middle ground was found. Sütaş products started to be sold in Migros again. We could not learn exactly whether there is a similar fight or another reason, but Sütaş products suddenly disappeared from Migros shelves again in the past weeks. There was no Sütaş in the virtual market or in the stores. After about two weeks, Sütaş products started to take their place in Migros with the agreement of the parties. A similar situation was happening on CarrefourSA shelves. Sütaş also withdrew from CarrefourSA shelves in the same period. Sütaş products are not currently sold in both the CarrefourSA online market and physical stores. As far as we have learned, Sütaş had problems with both chains on the shelves. They reached an agreement with Migros, but an agreement could not be reached with CarrefourSA yet. Note: The mentioned news is dated 14.10.2022.