Big players dominate thriving supermarket industry

Putting up a supermarket has become harder these days if you're a small business — even as the industry is getting stronger, an industry executive revealed. “It’s becoming a ball game of the big players. When we say big, we’re talking about SM, Robinson’s, Gaisano’s. They’re the fastest in the industry. It shows a trend in the consolidation of the market,” Philippine Association of Supermarkets, Inc. (PASI) president Carlos Cabochan told GMA News Online at the sidelines of the Food and Drinks Asia Expo in Pasay City last week. However, he described the market as “volatile.” “We’re still looking at the situation. There are no real winners yet,” Cabochan noted. “In total, the industry has improved," he added, carifying that by this he means that "people are spending more, people are shopping more."  But in terms of industry players, he said, "[T]here are [some] players growing faster than the others." Harder for small businesses In a separate interview at the same event, Steven Cua, President of the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association, Incorporated (PAGASA) said that the dominance of the large chain supermarkets is making it harder for small supermarkets to source fresh produce and processed goods. The small supermarket association called on the Department of Agriculture to address the issue of produce undersupply. For the past year, the association has also been pushing for the creation of one-stop "bagsakan centers" where small supermarkets could regularly source the farm produce they need. Dog eats dog Cua said that the large supermarkets have also been snapping up smaller stores. “It’s dog eats dog. The larger chains are buying existing businesses because they don’t want to build anymore, because it takes too long to construct a store physically,” he said. “They’re really coming out in the open, asking smaller stores, and smaller chains, 'Are you for sale? Because we are interested,'” he said. Cua said SM and Puregold are the most “aggressive” competitors.— BM, GMA News