The largest food-trading companies have the status of oligopolies and have become "unregulated financial institutions," according to a blistering 29-pageof the 2023 UNCTAD trade and development report, entitled "Food Commodities, Corporate Profiteering and Crises."
"The profits of four major food traders rise during periods of market volatility and during crises," note the authors.More than 345 million people are facing high levels of food insecurity this year. That's a rise of 200 million people from where we were pre-pandemic. Private companies can't necessarily solve that problem — but their unprecedented profits do seem rather distasteful, all the same.
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