Global shift to chain stores impacting nutrition in low and middle-income countries: study

A new study has unveiled a “seismic shift” in the types of food stores springing up globally over the past 15 years, with serious health implications for vulnerable low and middle-income countries.
The study by researchers from Deakin University in Australia and experts from UNICEF, analysing data from 97 countries on retail changes over the last 15 years, found that the number of chain supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores per 10,000 people increased by 23.6 per cent globally over the period.
With market domination by these types of retailers being the norm in high-income countries, low and middle-income countries are copying the trend and catching up fast, the research noted.
In South Asia and Southeast Asia, the number of chain retail outlets per person has increased by nearly 10 per cent per year, with a corresponding drop off in independently owned traditional stores.