In the U.S., the retail grocery store and supermarket industry, with 40,000 stores, totaled about $497 billion in revenues during 2010, according to U.S. Department of the Census figures. However, food products in America and elsewhere are sold at a wide variety of stores other than supermarkets. To get the full picture in the U.S., it is important to consider the $371 billion in sales at 52,000 non-traditional stores such as wholesale clubs and dollar stores, as well as $165 billion at 117,000 convenience stores (not including convenience store gasoline sales).

The restaurant industry accounted for another $604 billion in revenues in the U.S. during 2010, for both dine-in and take-out foods, according to the National Restaurant Association, employing 12.8 million people at 960,000 locations.

The U.S. retail food industry, including restaurants, is about a $1.63 trillion industry. Estimates of industry revenues can vary widely, due to many factors. For example, a large portion of supermarket sales is made in non-food items such as drugs and personal care goods, and many types of non-food stores sell small amounts of specialty food products.

Food retailing is rapidly becoming more diverse and sophisticated in emerging markets. For example, modern convenience stores are widespread in major Asian cities, such as the large number of highly popular 7-11 stores found in Thailand. Also, discount stores that sell food products among other items are increasingly popular, evidenced by the rapid growth of Wal-Mart in Mexico and Latin America, and the fast spread of stores in China owned by Wal-Mart and its European competitors including Carrefour.

Nonetheless, outside of the major cities, much of the food retailing in emerging markets is conducted by modest local markets, often run as family operations.

Food sales by restaurants are spreading very quickly in the emerging world as well. For example, America’s Yum! Brands, operator of KFC and Pizza Hut, is focusing its growth on China, where it already operates thousands of units in locations ranging from the giant metropolises such as Shanghai and Beijing to remote, smaller cities of growing importance.

U.S. farm sector gross receipts for crops, livestock and products were about $312.9 billion in 2010, up substantially from $282.1 billion during 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. America’s agricultural sector enjoyed $115.8 billion in exports during 2010, compared to $98.6 billion in 2009, while the U.S. imported only $82.0 billion in 2010, compared to $71.9 billion the previous year.

Globally, in the organized agriculture industry, 2,219 million metric tons of “cereal” grains, including wheat and rice, were projected to be produced in the 2009/2010 growing season. This represents a slight decrease from the previous season. This number is from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, publisher of an annual “Food Outlook.”

World meat production was projected to be 286.2 million tons during calendar year 2010. Dairy production was projected to be 710.7 million tons of milk equivalent. Fish production was projected to be 147.0 million tons.

In a report released in early 2011, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that fish farming (aquaculture) is overtaking traditional fishing in global production. Aquaculture grew at a 6.6% annual rate from 1970 to 2008, a period in which the global per-capita supply of farm-raised fish rose from 1.5 pounds to 17.2 pounds. Aquaculture made up 46% of the global supply of edible fish as of 2008, with $98.4 billion in sales compared to $93.9 billion for wild-caught fish. Salmon farming alone produces more than 2 billion pounds per year.

The global processed food and beverages industry is dominated by a handful of multinational corporations. Among the leaders are Unilever, Cadbury Schweppes, H. J. Heinz, Kraft Foods, General Mills and Nestlé. Unilever, for example, estimates that 150 million people per day purchase its products in 150 nations around the globe, ranging from Knorr soups to SlimFast diet meals.

The entire food industry, from growing to processing to retailing, is an extremely competitive field where profit margins are typically so low that it is often challenging to maintain profitability. The processed food industry worldwide has been challenged by low growth rates, high energy costs and changing consumer tastes. High feed costs have been extremely damaging to poultry and livestock firms, and fertilizer, which is typically manufactured from petrochemical sources, has seen very high costs in recent years.

Consumers in the U.S. and Europe, where the economies have been facing slow growth, have been resisting food luxuries such as lobster and prime beef, gourmet coffees and upper-end convenience foods. More notably, consumers are shopping for bargains. Generic store brands are growing in market share while higher-priced name brands have suffered from slower sales. Supermarket chains such as Kroger, Safeway and HEB have been forced to modify their merchandising to meet the needs of cost conscious shoppers.

In the U.S., the supermarket industry is under attack by discounter Wal-Mart in particular, as well as by Costco and Target. Vast changes are sweeping through the supermarket sector as a result, as major firms such as Safeway and Kroger have cut prices and lowered operating costs dramatically, while Albertson’s sold itself to private investors. In the fiscal year ending January 31, 2010, grocery, candy and tobacco sales amounted to 51% of Wal-Mart’s $405 billion in total revenues. Wal-Mart has by far the leading market share of American supermarket sales.

The latest figures show that U.S. private-label food and consumer product sales are about $86 billion in U.S. grocery stores yearly, plus an additional estimated $15 to $20 billion in non-traditional food stores, according to the Private Label Manufacturers Association. The association states that nearly one out of every four items sold in American supermarkets, chain drugstores and mass merchandise stores are private label store brands.
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