Changes in retail food and drink distribution in Argentina 2001-2003: Towards new territory horizontalities

Abstract

This paper introduces the main changes in the distribution of food and drinks in Argentina, which began with the economic, political and social crisis in 2001. The territory used by some of the social actors involved, such as businesses of different sizes (supermarkets and neighborhood stores) and people (consumers), will no longer respond exclusively to a global order or to territorial verticalities. Many of these new tendencies will be led by local norms connected with territorial horizontalities. The most important of these changes is the fact that consumption has become oriented towards: sales, smaller packaging, second and third brands, supermarkets' own brands, new shopping frequencies, a combination of several distribution channels with the so-called "back-to-the-neighborhood" phenomenon, and single-item shopping.