This Grocery Chain Dominates In MA As Industry Shrinks: New Data

MASSACHUSETTS — Ahold Delhaize, a Dutch company that owns Stop & Shop and Hannaford along with several other brands, has the largest share of grocery stores in Massachusetts, according to an analysis by The Washington Post that looks at consolidation in the supermarket industry.

The traditional grocery store industry has shrunk over the past several decades. Now, according to The Post’s analysis, a third of U.S. grocery stores are now owned by just four companies — Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons and Aldi (Süd), the fastest-growing supermarket chain in the country.

The analysis, which is based on OpenStreetMap location data, looks at grocery store ownership both regionally and by county.

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Consumers may not always know they’re shopping at a large chain, though. Both Kroger and Albertsons, the second- and third-largest grocery store chains, each operate under about two dozen banners.

Here's a look at the leaders in several Massachusetts counties with the percentage of market share in each:

• Essex County: Market Basket 20%, Stop & Shop 12%
• Middlesex County: Stop & Shop/Hannaford 15%, Market Basket 11%
• Worcester County: Stop & Shop/Hannaford 18%, Walmart 12%
• Suffolk County: Stop & Shop 16%, Star Market/Shaw's 15%
• Norfolk County: Stop & Shop 18%, Star Market/Shaw's 15%
• Plymouth County: Stop & Shop/Hannaford 23%, Walmart 11%
• Barnstable County: Stop & Shop 33%, Star Market/Shaw's 18%

Other stores that have a presence in the state include Price Chopper, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods. Albertsons owns both Shaw's and Star Market, which are also common in Massachusetts.

Walmart is especially strong in the middle of the country, Albertsons dominates in the Northwest, and Kroger has a strong presence in the mountain states and Ohio Valley, according to the analysis. Smaller companies have strong regional presences, including Publix in Florida, H-E-B in Texas, and the Dutch company Ahold Delhaize (Food Lion, Giant Food and Shop & Stop) throughout the East Coast, including Massachusetts.

Walmart has both the largest number of stores — about 90 percent of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart — and is the leader in market share, followed by Kroger, Costco, Albertsons and Amazon.

The supermarket industry could further tighten if a proposed $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons is allowed to go through. A federal judge in Oregon is currently deciding if the merger will help or harm consumers.

The Federal Trade Commission and nine attorneys general who sued to block the merger say it could limit the competition between the two and result in higher food prices at a time when customers are still struggling to pay higher prices linked to higher manufacturing costs, lingering pandemic supply chain issues and bird flu.

The supermarkets say they would be better able to create the efficiencies of scale that result in lower prices, and more effectively compete with retailers like Walmart, Target, Amazon and others that have gotten into the grocery business.

It’s unclear when U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson will issue her decision. Also this week, testimony continued this week in an antitrust lawsuit filed in Washington State. A third antitrust lawsuit from the Colorado attorney general begins next week in Denver.