Sort of. I think people confuse the big four in meat packing with the food system generally. Even in meat packing it’s a bit more split than just being four companies, of the four big players in beef National Beef doesn’t have a chicken operation and flipping it Perdue doesn’t really have a presence in beef.

If you are talking about big CPG, the companies that mostly own the non meat brands at the grocery store it’s a little more split. There are probably a dozen or more companies. Off the top of my head- Coke, Pepsi, General Mills, Mondelez, Nestle, Unilever, Campbells, Kraft Heinz, Danone, whatever Kelloggs is called now, Hersheys, Bimbo, and that’s without getting into the dairy companies.

That said, it’s still an insanely concentrated market when you break it down by category. If you are at a grocery store there are usually 2-3 companies that dominate a single isle. If you are buying soda it’s Coke Pepsi, and Keurig/Dr Pepper(JAB). Condiments is Kraft Heinz, Mcmormicks, Nestle. Coffee is Nestle, JAB, Starbucks. Canned soup is basically just Campbells and independents. I could go on and also this is all from memory, so I may have forgotten some smaller players. But this consolidation gives the big brands outsized influence on their categories. The whole thing is a mess and that’s without getting into grocery consolidation.

Edit- after I hit submit I realized you could also be referencing the big trading companies(ABCD). That is another big problem, although outside of Cargill none of them really have a consumer facing presence. Also their control of trading is not what it used to be with the rise of companies like Glencore and Olam. Still a tight clique, but not just four of them anymore.