Those products never achieved a significant market share, and were phased out from 1990 to 1991. Tr. In 1994, Post expects to increase its trade promotion spending by over 50% above 1993. Leckie Decl. It attempted, instead, to increase Nabisco Shredded Wheat's market share. ¶¶ 49-50; Boehm Decl. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Nabisco failed to develop an advertising campaign for Nabisco Shredded Wheat that was appealing to consumers. ¶ 77, Figures 3 and 4. Over time, private label manufacturers and retailers have become more aggressive in marketing RTE cereal to the consumer. ¶ 32; Appendix 4 Regressions; Tr. Since the Acquisition, concentration in the RTE cereal industry has continued to decline. Smith Decl. General Mills Inc. and Nabisco Inc., citing expected regulatory delays, ended an agreement calling for General Mills to purchase Nabisco's cold-cereal business for $450 million. Rubinfeld Decl. at 116 (Cotterill). Kraft is permitted to sell the former Nabisco RTE cereal products under the "Nabisco" trademark pursuant to a license that expires in January 1997. While wholesale list prices for RTE cereal generally have increased, so have (i) the annual number of occasions when coupons are distributed; (ii) average coupon values, (iii) net coupon discounts from average non-deal price per pound, and (iv) the number of boxes of cereal sold with a coupon. The 1994 year to date market shares data used by plaintiff therefore understate the significance of General Mills. ¶ 65(d); Thomas Decl. Post does not control the prices that retailers charge consumers for its cereals. Private label cereal sales have consistently exceeded the growth of the cereal industry as a whole in recent years. ¶ 16. Grape-Nuts and Nabisco Shredded Wheat are physically quite different, are produced by different processes and from different grains, and each has its own unique taste, texture, and product form. DX 48 at KGF 0397101. ¶ 23; Smith Decl. ¶ 31; Boehm Decl. at 25; Leckie Decl. ¶ 47; DX 306; DX 276 at KGF 1161893. As Mr. Boehm of Kroger explained: "Each Kroger division independently assesses the trade deals on RTE cereal products available to it, and independently decides the extent to which the division will make purchases pursuant to the deal.... Each Kroger division also independently decides how and when to pass along trade deal savings to its customers. For example, Kellogg could immediately shift from producing Frosted Flakes to producing any of its "adult" flaked cereals, including Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Product 19 and Special K. Rubinfeld Decl. They do not relate changes in consumption to changes in price, to changes in promotional activity, to changes in advertising, or to other factors that may affect purchasing. There is a consistent and "robust" pattern of statistically significant positive cross-price elasticities among cereals in each of the five Post marketing segments. DX 144 at KGF 1166572; Parker Decl. ¶ 3. ¶ 90. Retailers cannot track their competitors' costs for RTE cereal, nor can manufacturers. To compete against Kellogg, Nabisco funded substantial promotional activities in the test areas, including funding free standing inserts ("FSIs") with high value coupons, trade promotions, and more effective advertising. Boehm Decl. at 683 (Smith). Shifting analyses suggest that only between 5% and 8% of Grape-Nuts volume losses in 1993 were picked up by Nabisco Shredded Wheat. Parker Decl. ¶¶ 62, 64, 73-82. Parker Decl. Fruehauf Corp. v. ¶ 73; Rubinfeld Decl. Tr. [10] Relevant market share statistics are set forth below: For purposes of analysis, the "top 4 firms" category in this chart treats Kraft and Nabisco as one firm. If one looks at consumption from the standpoint of what percentage of a household's consumption is devoted to a particular cereal, one finds that even the most popular RTE cereals account for only about 10% of the cereal consumption within the households that purchase them a far lower percentage than is common in other grocery categories. Tr. at 459 (Carroll); DX 42; DX 51 at 5; DX 56 at 19. at 98 (Cotterill). It is unlikely that either Post or any hypothetical new owner of the Nabisco assets could rapidly increase Nabisco Shredded Wheat's market share simply by reducing price. ¶ 53. ¶ 74(a). Shauna O'Brien Sep 15, 2014 Kraft ( KRFT ) and General Mills ( GIS ) are some of biggest packaged food companies in the United States, Both of these companies have dozens of products, many of which are surprising to the average consumer and investor. ¶¶ 30, 32-35; Parker Decl. Retailers promote their private label RTE cereal products aggressively by positioning them next to their branded counterparts and by using signs inviting consumers to compare private label brands with the national brands. DX 251A, Lettmann Dep. ¶ 55(f); Parker Decl. ¶ 23; Rubinfeld Decl. ¶ 31; DX 289. Check out all of our brands, including Cheerios & Trix. When Kraft bought Nabisco, it included Christie. When coupons are taken into account, the retail pricing patterns suggested by Professor Cotterill changed substantially. Leckie Decl. Because of their physical dissimilarities, Nabisco Shredded Wheat and Grape-Nuts are not "direct form" competitors. ¶¶ 72-78, Table 2 and Appendix 1. at 817 (Rubinfeld); DX 250; DX 250A, Welge Dep. ¶ 70; Boehm Decl. ¶ 74(a). Courts enforcing Clayton Act Section 7 focus on whether the acquisition will facilitate anticompetitive coordinated conduct, that is, whether the acquisition will make it "easier for the firms in the market to collude, expressly or tacitly, and thereby *364 force price above or farther above the competitive level." ¶ 15. Tr. ¶ 55(f); DX 42. Leckie Decl. Boehm Decl. ¶ 18; DX 174; DX 317 at NBA 1043333. ¶ 56; see also Tr. This court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Boehm Decl. ¶ 20. Thomas Decl. Parker Decl. Although shredded wheat cereals are popular, Nabisco's sales had been declining since 1988. , and were phased out from 1990 to 1991 `` direct form competitors., nor can manufacturers 317 at NBA 1043333 Nabisco failed to develop advertising. Above 1993 DX 317 at NBA 1043333 ¶ 18 ; DX 56 at 19. 98! ; DX 317 at NBA 1043333 understate the significance of General Mills Nabisco., Table 2 and Appendix 1. at 817 ( Rubinfeld ) ; DX 42 ; DX at! 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