WHOLESALER DEEP DIVE
Looking to the Future
Trusted Allies A KE Y RE ASON FOR THE ONGOING SUCCESS OF INDEPENDENT GROCERS, WHOLESALERS ARE WORKING ON KE Y INITIATIVES THIS YE AR TO STRENGTHEN THAT BOND. By Bridget Goldschmidt
holesalers serving independent food retailers are part of a vibrant ecosystem whose recent activities attest to the overall robust health of the independent grocery industry. Guided by the National Grocers Association (NGA) — recently relocated to Washington, D.C., from Arlington, Va., for greater access to the nation’s power brokers — indies are armed with a bold new agenda that includes calling on Congress and federal regulators to launch investigations into what it views as the illegal and anticompetitive business practices of the nation’s largest food retailers, particularly when it comes to rural and urban consumers, producers and businesses. “Economic discrimination hurts customers and communities — and it’s already illegal,” NGA noted in “Buyer Power and Economic Discrimination in the Grocery Aisle: Kitchen Table Issues for American Consumers,” a document released this past March. “The antitrust laws written to prevent this conduct can no longer be ignored and must be enforced to protect local stores, consumers’ choices and Americans’ health.” “It’s been a challenging time for the independent grocery sector, and that didn’t start with the pandemic,” points out Gus Lebiak, president of White Plains, N.Y.-based Krasdale Foods. “For years, independent grocers had to compete with large chains and mass retailers, but when COVID hit, we started having to compete just to get product into stores. Usually, when there is enough supply, you’re competing for things like labor and logistics, but with COVID, we had to fight just to get our hands on products. When you look at the situation, you need to ask, were vendors being fair, or were they playing favorites with the big chains and outlets?” Save A Lot is Other priorities for independents, unveiled at the dawn of currently in the Biden era, include employee tax relief, liability protection, the midst of transitioning assistance with accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance to a wholesale Program (SNAP) benefits for online purchases, credit card business model, fees and the minimum wage. which it expects This framework for action has rolled out as the sector asserts its to complete by the integral role in the U.S. economy, according to NGA’s most recent end of this year.
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