How Costco’s Rotisserie Chickens Will Transform Farming | Eater

"This major retailer built a supply strategy around a loss-leader $4.99 rotisserie chicken—selling tens of millions of birds annually—and is pursuing vertical integration to guarantee supply, stabilize price, and expand control over the supply chain. To appeal to shoppers who care about sourcing it has tightened antibiotic-use standards under shareholder pressure and cultivated a reputation for relatively better pay in its warehouse workforce; its scale and financial resources make the move consequential for producers, local economies, and competitors. The retailer’s pursuit of in-house production is framed as an economic opportunity for struggling farmers, but it has also raised concerns about concentration of market power, take-it-or-leave-it contracting, and the broader implications if other large retailers follow suit." - Twilight Greenaway