North America, 1992
North America Council, 1992: In 1992, there were many different opinions on new directions in the retail grocery industry, but a host of studies, reports and articles generally agreed on a consistent picture of the current industry situation. In an industry with traditionally low margins, experiencing stagnant or low growth rates in the early 1990s and an increasingly fragmented market, the pressure was on to maintain profitability by squeezing more and more waste out of the system.