Sorry, but that's not what's being described here. If you want it to be about your bread market, then the water guy is hiring your best baker because bread is

Sorry, but that's not what's being described here. If you want it to be about your bread market, then the water guy is hiring your best baker because bread is worth $10 when combined with water, but only if it's particularly good bread. Maybe 50 of the other 99 bakers at the 10 bread-selling companies are also capable of making good bread and will feel bad, maybe the company that lost the baker will feel bad, maybe that company will even fail because it turns out that really was their best baker... but in that case, it just proves that the water company was paying the market price for that baker. Which they were. Spending more on talent is not predatory pricing.