Government Relations

Ensuring Love’s Labor Isn’t Lost

This Labor Day, several dramatic elements are coming together in a way that should give the food industry new reasons to celebrate this holiday. Let me set the stage for you. The first dramatic element is a powerful back drop that has been ...

Wimpy’s Revenge: Multiemployer Pensions Plans and Special Financial Assistance

For decades, multiemployer pensions have been buffeted by economic and demographic headwinds that the people who created the system failed to foresee. For just as long, politicians have been promising to fix the system and secure these pensions for ...

Heavy Metals in Baby and Toddler Foods Explored at the FMI Legal, Compliance, and Regulatory Conference

As the food industry returns to some degree of normalcy, we are seeing renewed attention on a number of pre-pandemic issues. One of these topics is heavy metals in food, particularly those foods designed for infants and ...

The Potential Retail Repercussions of a Sluggish Vaccination Pace

As the Delta variant of COVID-19 rapidly spreads across the United States, governments in areas with low vaccination rates are grappling with their next steps toward preventing its spread and getting more people ...

Retail Stockpiling: Inventory Taxes, Just-in-Time and Beyond

In the grocery industry, inventory stockpiling can be an important hedge, but it can also be a costly one. Apart from production issues and supply chain bottlenecks that make securing large quantities of products more challenging for retailers, one ...

Can We Get to Zero Food Waste?

Last night at dinner, a family friend asked if it was true that around one-third of the food in this country is wasted. It was sobering to say yes. Estimates vary, but approximately 25-40% of food grown, processed and transported in the U.S. will ...

Lessons Learned: How to Strengthen the Supply Chain against Future Crises

FMI sprung at the chance to provide thorough feedback on behalf of the industry. Food retailers and wholesalers have been uniquely positioned during much of the pandemic, particularly as part of what became known as “critical infrastructure....

The Unintended Consequences of an Excise Tax

The COVID-19 pandemic forced unprecedented expenditures by state and local governments. Many cities and states now face an uncertain budget picture moving forward. Given this fiscal uncertainty, the FMI State Affairs team is on the lookout for any ...

Retailers Pay Too Much to Accept Debit Cards. We Can Change That.

In the world of payments of policy, we often have to take the long view and the incremental wins along the way. Right now, we are on the precipice of what could be one of those incremental, but very important wins: Late last week the Federal Reserve ...

Grocers Kept America Fed Throughout the Pandemic Despite Major Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed almost every facet of our lives since the first cases appeared in the United States late last winter, so it’s no surprise that it’s had a major impact on what Americans are eating and where they’re getting their ...

The Ups and Downs of Food Prices

Food prices definitely did rise in 2020. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s analysis of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) found that prices for “food-at-home” (i.e., purchased from a grocery store or other retail format) increased by 3.5% ...

Speaking from the Heart on Valentine’s Day

I am seizing this opportunity to issue this blog as my heartfelt Valentine’s Day card to the food industry, the community I have always admired and respected, but have come to appreciate and dare I say, love, in some new and more profound ways over ...

Test Your Industry Trivia Knowledge

Let’s test your food and industry knowledge. If you answer correctly, then you could probably compete against our inaugural LEAD Trivia Tournament champions, who were crowned at our FMI Executive Midwinter ...

What is Happening With SNAP?

There have been several developments in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)over the past several weeks. Since these developments are happening on multiple fronts, we thought it would be helpful if we compile the most important ...

How the Food Industry Can Write the Next Normal

At our 2021 Midwinter Executive Conference, Leslie Sarasin, FMI president and CEO, addressed how the food industry can write the next normal post-COVID-19....