You have been hired by a regional supermarket chain as the soft drink buyer. Your shelves are dominated by national firms like Pepsi and Coke. The chain imposes a substantial slotting fee to allow new items to be added to their stock selection. Management reasons that it costs a lot to add and delete items, and besides these fees are a good source of revenue.
A small minority-operated local firm produces several potentially interesting soft drinks, all with natural ingredients, vitamins, reduced sugar, and a competitive price-and they also happen to taste great.
You'd love to give the firm a chance, but its managers claim the slotting fee is too high. Should your firm charge slotting fees? Are slotting fees fair to the relevant shareholders-customers, stockholders, vendors?