Food Distributors NAICS 4244

Dec 30, 2025 - Trump Orders Task Forces on Food Prices

• President Trump in December signed an executive order directing the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to establish food supply chain security task forces focused on identifying and addressing price fixing and anti‑competitive behavior, Reuters reports. For the food industry, this signals heightened regulatory scrutiny, particularly toward large or foreign‑controlled companies, that may influence pricing, market access, or consolidation. Food manufacturers and distributors could face more investigations, compliance requirements, and potential enforcement actions if practices are deemed to distort competition or raise consumer costs. The initiative could benefit mid‑sized and regional distributors by targeting dominant players whose market power affects procurement and pricing. If regulators pursue new rules, the industry may see shifts in contracting, transparency expectations, and oversight of supplier relationships. The EO introduces both operational risk and potential competitive rebalancing across the food distribution landscape.
• A merger that would have created the nation’s largest broadline distributor for restaurants and other foodservice providers has been called off, Supermarket News reported in November. US Foods and Performance Food Group (PFG), the US’s second and third largest distributors by revenue (behind Sysco) ended an information-sharing process begun earlier this year in anticipation of merging. The two companies, in consultation with independent financial and legal advisors, said they mutually decided to end merger talks after a review of the benefits of a combination along with regulatory concerns, according to a statement. Winning the approval of regulators was a major issue looming over the deal. A decade ago, federal antitrust regulators blocked a planned merger of Sysco and US Foods.

• Sprouts Farmers Market is among the latest grocery chains to assert greater control over its supply chain by bringing more sourcing in-house, Grocery Dive reports. The 440-plus-store natural and organic grocery retailer began sourcing fresh meat and seafood from its own distribution centers in the third quarter. Sprouts' move mirrors that of other grocers, including Walmart, which opened its first owned-and-operated case-ready beef facility in June, and Costco. Grocery Dive posits that Sprouts’ self-distribution push could signal that in-house sourcing isn’t just for the big national players who benefit from scale or for small independents with strong local ties, but also for regional and medium-sized chains. Given consolidation in the food distribution industry, which leaves smaller operators with less leverage to negotiate prices, and UNFI’s recent cyberattack, Grocery Dive writes that categories like fresh foods seem like ripe opportunities for supermarkets to explore for self-distribution.
• Producer prices for grocery and related product merchant wholesalers rose 5.9% in September compared to a year ago, after jumping 17.5% in the previous September-versus-September annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Wholesale grocery prices have been rising steeply since about mid-2021, but have eased somewhat from their record high in March 2025. Employment by grocery distributors grew a mere 0.7% year over year in August, while the average industry wage declined 1.1% over the same period to $27.02 per hour, down from its peak in July, BLS data show.