OLIGOPSONY AND BUYER POWER IN THE BRAZILIAN FOOD RETAIL: THE DAIRY PRODUCTS CASE

ABSTRACT The recent concentration in the Brazilian food retail market facilitates buyer power on the purchase of products. The situation is more acute in the dairy sector due to recent innovations and reorganization in the production chain. This paper aims to verify whether the retail industry wields buyer power on the purchase of dairy products in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The theoretical model provides a test to analyze if retail prices are detached from raw material prices, which is a good indicator of retailers’ buyer power. The results show evidence of buyer power on the purchase of the three types of products, namely, UHT fluid milk, type B fluid milk, and type C fluid milk. It raises important discussions regarding the dairy industry behavior and the public enforcement of mergers and acquisitions.