Grocery Chains Are Being Squeezed From All Sides

Pressure from rapidly changing consumer tastes, European discounters and Whole Foods will hurt smaller grocery chains most but the big players like Kroger will struggle to grow.

Rapidly changing ideas about what’s healthy are causing strong headwinds for supermarkets. WSJ’s Ken Brown breaks down 3 things they’re doing right. Photo: Getty Images.

Stephen Wilmot and

Aaron Back

Updated June 12, 2018 7:03 a.m. ET

The next top players in the grocery business may feel more like survivors than winners.

The industry is trying to keep up with rapidly changing consumer tastes. But new competition, ranging from European discounters like Aldi to Amazon’s Whole Foods, will leave even the best-positioned supermarkets struggling for growth.

The big losers will...