A host of food industry and farmer organisations representing $220 billion in sales has met with officials from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to air concerns that soaring inflation and the market clout of Coles and Woolworths could result in an increasing corporatisation of the food supply chain.

The Food Industry Alliance has been established to try to convince policymakers and regulators that more needs to be done to ensure that smaller, independent operators, including farmers, local butchers and greengrocers, food distributors and independent supermarket retailers, have a level playing field as cost inputs jump.