Global Obesity Centre, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.
School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Global Health. 2021 Jan 26;17(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s12992-021-00667-7.
The public health community has become increasingly critical of the role that powerful corporations play in driving unhealthy diets, one of the leading contributors to the global burden of disease. While a substantial amount of work has examined the political strategies used by dominant processed food manufacturers that undermine public health, less attention has been paid to their use of market strategies to build and consolidate power. In this light, this paper aimed to systematically review and synthesise the market strategies deployed by dominant processed food manufacturers to increase and consolidate their power.
A systematic review and document analysis of public health, business, legal and media content databases (Scopus, Medline, ABI Inform, Business Source Complete, Thomas Reuters Westlaw, Lexis Advance, Factiva, NewsBank), and grey literature were conducted. Data extracted were analysed thematically using an approach informed by Porter's 'Five Forces' framework.
213 documents met inclusion criteria. The market strategies (n=21) and related practices of dominant processed food manufacturers identified in the documents were categorised into a typological framework consisting of six interconnected strategic objectives: i) reduce intense competition with equivalent sized rivals and maintaining dominance over smaller rivals; ii) raise barriers to market entry by new competitors; iii) counter the threat of market disruptors and drive dietary displacement in favour of their products; iv) increase firm buyer power over suppliers; v) increase firm seller power over retailers and distributors; and vi) leverage informational power asymmetries in relations with consumers.
The typological framework is well-placed to inform general and jurisdiction-specific market strategy analyses of dominant processed food manufacturers, and has the potential to assist in identifying countervailing public policies, such as those related to merger control, unfair trading practices, and public procurement, that could be used to address market-power imbalances as part of efforts to improve population diets.
公共卫生界越来越批评大公司在推动不健康饮食方面所扮演的角色，而不健康饮食是全球疾病负担的主要原因之一。尽管大量研究考察了主导加工食品制造商破坏公共卫生的政治策略，但对其利用市场策略来建立和巩固权力的关注较少。有鉴于此，本文旨在系统地审查和综合主导加工食品制造商用来增加和巩固其权力的市场策略。
对公共卫生、商业、法律和媒体内容数据库（Scopus、Medline、ABI Inform、Business Source Complete、Thomas Reuters Westlaw、Lexis Advance、Factiva、NewsBank）以及灰色文献进行了系统的回顾和文献分析。从波特的“五力”框架中汲取灵感，采用主题分析方法对提取的数据进行分析。
有 213 份文件符合纳入标准。文件中确定的主导加工食品制造商的市场策略（n=21）和相关做法被归类为一个由六个相互关联的战略目标组成的类型学框架：i）减少与同等规模竞争对手的激烈竞争并保持对较小竞争对手的主导地位；ii）提高新竞争对手进入市场的壁垒；iii）应对市场颠覆者的威胁并推动饮食转向有利于其产品；iv）增加公司对供应商的买方权力；v）增加公司对零售商和分销商的卖方权力；以及 vi）利用与消费者关系中的信息权力不对称。
该类型学框架适合对主导加工食品制造商进行一般性和特定司法管辖区的市场策略分析，并有可能有助于确定反制性的公共政策，例如与合并控制、不公平贸易行为和公共采购有关的政策，这些政策可用于解决市场权力失衡问题，作为改善人口饮食的努力的一部分。
