Power in the supply chain: a case of differentiated relationships in the UK grocery industry

Many past studies on power relations in the grocery industry argue that retailers are extremely powerful and that they use their power base to dominate relations within the industry. This paper argues, that whilst structural changes in the grocery industry may have conferred retailers with an enhanced power capacity, the use of such power is restricted to certain relationships and curtailed in others. Thus, this paper finds the existence of multiple and differentiated types of relationships involving various groups of retailers and manufacturers. The paper contends that a full appreciation of the power dynamics within the grocery industry requires an understanding of differentiated relationships.