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

by Benjamin Lorr

But slotting fees are nothing. They are so transparent and obvious that many retailers have moved away from them. In their place, a mad, inventive spree of different taxes and extractive demands has emerged. There are “promotional fees” (subsidizing the cost of two-for-one deals, tag sales, and other discounts). There is “free-fill” (a free case or ten in each flavor for the retailer to sell at 100 percent profit). There are “advertising fees” for unwanted but mandatory placement in the company’s internal newsletter (a promotion that almost no one will read and will produce no benefits), or fees for receiving the privilege of being broadcast on their “radio network” (a network that consists of interrupting whatever Muzak is bopping from their in-store speakers to announce your product).