Gus writes:
"Selling foods with less sodium only requires that store to stock less sodium filled products, versus a meatpacker who has to purchase new equipment, hire new staff to monitor the meats, etc."
I think this undersells it a bit. The manufacturers of the food with less sodium will probably charge more for their food due to higher input costs. Salt is very cheap and an easy way to inject lots of flavor. If a manufacturer cannot use salt, it may have to use better quality ingredients in order to provide enough flavor to provide enough utility to the end consumer to keep him interested in purchasing the product.
Assuming I'm correct about that (I really don't know, its just an assumption), then Walmart can still afford to buy the food from the manufacturer and sell it at nearly the same price of pre-sodium regulation food. A mom and pop store may not be able to take the profit margin hit that this would necessarily entail. Once mom and pop have lost enough business to Walmart, they go out of business - leaving Walmart. Walmart can then increase its prices (due to a lack of competition) and make up for its lost margin.
"Selling foods with less sodium only requires that store to stock less sodium filled products, versus a meatpacker who has to purchase new equipment, hire new staff to monitor the meats, etc."
I think this undersells it a bit. The manufacturers of the food with less sodium will probably charge more for their food due to higher input costs. Salt is very cheap and an easy way to inject lots of flavor. If a manufacturer cannot use salt, it may have to use better quality ingredients in order to provide enough flavor to provide enough utility to the end consumer to keep him interested in purchasing the product.
Assuming I'm correct about that (I really don't know, its just an assumption), then Walmart can still afford to buy the food from the manufacturer and sell it at nearly the same price of pre-sodium regulation food. A mom and pop store may not be able to take the profit margin hit that this would necessarily entail. Once mom and pop have lost enough business to Walmart, they go out of business - leaving Walmart. Walmart can then increase its prices (due to a lack of competition) and make up for its lost margin.
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