Kraft-Heinz scale ($18B sales) is impressive, but it's still not much compared to Wal-Mart scale ($514B). That scale is what underlies the negotiation, just as

Kraft-Heinz scale ($18B sales) is impressive, but it's still not much compared to Wal-Mart scale ($514B). That scale is what underlies the negotiation, just as Kraft-Heinz's scale typically let's them attempt to dominate their other customers. "Weakest position" for Wal-Mart, even if true, is relative and the absolute value is still quite strong. Every regional grocery store chain has private labels from which they get roughly the same stuff; store brands are a mid-1850s innovation for exactly the same leverage over suppliers as Walmart want to get. Walmart making a decision to vertically integrate an element of their supply chain as opposed to regionally contract also isn't an innovation: it's simply an obvious and logical step at scale. Finally, dismissing regional contracting as a possibility is silly: Florida and Washington state having their generic mac-n-cheese rolling out of different factories is not a deal breaker.