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.

Arla Foods has proposed to invest nearly £90 million into its Lockerbie site in Scotland to support the farmer owned cooperative’s future growth ambitions.
Alongside the £300m site investments announced in 2024, which included £34m investment into Lockerbie’s cheddar production, the food manufacturer has recently announced a proposal to further increase the investment in Lockerbie to enable it to future proof its UK production.
The UKs largest dairy cooperative is proposing to create a Centre of Excellence for the production of UHT and Lactofree milk at Lockerbie, which could create new roles in the local area.
As a result, Arla has proposed the closure its Settle site, and part of the proposal could also impact some colleagues based at Arla’s Stourton Dairy, however the business does not envisage any redundancies for Stourton Dairy employees.