Government Relations

Don’t Think Your Vote Matters?

Earlier this month Arizona became a hot topic in political circles. No, not because of Sen. John McCain’s re-election, but because former GoDaddy executive Christine Jones conceded that she had lost the Republican primary in Arizona’s fifth ...

Keeping Track of the Details During Busy Times

Most of us are knee deep in the annual calendar recalibration known as “back to school month” and are hastily trying to get acclimated to the new pace- frantically searching for the rhythm that feels more like normal and less like a jolt to the ...

Food Retailers Need to Press for Continued Debit Card Competition

It is time to make it clear to your Member of Congress that you strongly oppose repealing these important debit reforms and that you are watching how they vote on this issue. We hope you will support these efforts by sending a letter in opposition ...

Fostering Grocery Talent

If the Fed was looking for an indicator that the U.S. economy was ready for a rate hike, the August job numbers weren’t any help. After two spectacular months of employment gains, August’s disappointing numbers made one thing clear – we desperately ...

USDA Makes Strides in Online SNAP Pilot Programs

On September 15, 2016, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) released the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) online shopping pilot Request for Volunteers (RFV). The online shopping pilot is designed to explore the feasibility of ...

FMI on Innovation in Payments Systems

One of Congress’ many responsibilities is to ensure competition in the marketplace. FMI and member companies appreciate the legislative work that has been done to increase innovation in the payments system, specifically debit transactions. The ...

What the One-year Anniversary of EMV Means for Food Retailers

FMI member companies spent more than five years and hundreds of millions of dollars to become chip card-compliant before the October 2015 liability shift, and companies continue to dedicate significant resources to become EMV-compliant months after ...

FSMA Compliance for Preventive Controls Begins in September: Are You Ready?

Compliance for the cornerstone rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) begins on September 19, 2016. Hopefully this does not come as a surprise and simply as a gentle reminder to complete your Hazard Analysis and Preventive Control Plans ...

Online Redemption of SNAP Benefits To Be Piloted

USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s Andrea Gold spoke with FMI members at FMI’s State Issues Retreat earlier this month about a number of updates in the agency’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). There was a particular interest in the ...

D-SNAP and Other Emergency Feeding Operations

With historic flooding affecting parts of southern Louisiana, West Virginia and other ongoing disaster-related events in the U.S., FMI wants to ensure your companies are aware of resources available during times of great ...

Next Steps on GMO Disclosure Implementation

FMI recently held its State Issues Retreat in Middleburg, Virginia, hosting grocery state associations and representatives from several FMI member companies. Among the speakers at the meeting, participants heard from Doug McKalip, Senior Advisor to ...

A Vote for Grocery!

Every day our government relations team works to shape public policy on the federal, state and local levels. I can’t think of a better way to directly affect the way policy is written in the states than to elect grocers to the state legislature....

Embracing a New Wave of Information Technology

The legislative achievements last week on GMO have been a win for the value chain in giving food makers and sellers the option to disclose information in a flexible manner, so it was disconcerting that the debate on GMO included accusations that the ...

The Journey of an Imperfectly Perfect Bill

The distance from the U.S. Capitol to the White House is approximately 1.5 miles, a mere thirty minute stroll across relatively flat terrain. However, the journey for a GMO labeling bill, escorted through both ends of the Capitol, then down ...

Transparency in the Grocery Aisles

In 2014, the Trading Partner Alliance (TPA), a joint industry relationship group made up of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) that focuses on shared retailer-manufacturer supply chain efficiency ...