The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket

The Secret Life of Groceries explores many parts of the grocery system that we seldom think about. Early on, the book details the "enlargement" of the grocery store. At first, there were general stores. Purchases were typically made on credit and the workers served everything to you. Most everyone was purchased from a bulk commodity. Advances in packaging led to the creation of national brands. The self-serve supermarket rose from that and has since grown to enormous proportions. Convenience store provided a smaller neighborhood alternative with greater opening hours.

Large supermarkets worked best with homogenous national products that can be consistently provided. The margins are razor thin. Often the money is made at the expense of the producer. Companies pay to slot their products on shelves and pay for advertising and promotions. Employees tend to be expendable resources.

Some retailers saw inefficiencies in the process. The found of Trader Joe's initially ran drugstores where he focussed on selling product that made the most money per shelf space occupied. He would also look for inefficiencies in the market. Extra Large eggs could be cheaper than large, because they are more rare. The short term supply could be a plus. Trader Joe's targeted over-educated, underpaid customers. He also paid the employees very well. Rather than carrying a large selection of everything, he opted for a smaller selection of high value items and affordable price points. He developed a cult following. 

In Germany, Aldi also had a "small is better" approach. They were even smaller and a very narrow selection of very cheap merchandise. Like Trader Joe's they also preferred to use private label goods rather than national brands. Eventually, Trader Joe's was sold to one of the Aldi owners.

The book also goes through the full life cycle of food. Trucking is heavily involved. It is also a very challenging profession. Many "owner operators" struggle just to make ends meet. 

Production is also filled with labor and ecosystem abuses. Cheap food and cheap labor often go together. In response to concerns, companies often engage in supply chain audits. However, there are extensive differences in the various aspects of food production that it would be impossible for an auditor to understand everything. It is also difficult to see all the various parts of the system. The auditing can make us feel good, without significantly impacting the bad players.

Launching a new grocery product requires a lot of time, money and expense, as well as a good amount of luck. People expect cheap today. Grocery stores view everything as a "product" that needs to be sold to earn money. The actual "product" is not so important.

The author went to great details to understand the food system. He interviewed key players and found jobs to better understand how parts worked. There is clearly a tone of disgust with the many sordid parts of our cheap food. He tries to be somewhat objective, though the negativity does shine through.