Grocery Leaders Meet With DC Lawmakers

More than 200 supermarket industry CEOs and senior executives from nearly every state have converged on Capitol Hill to discuss federal policies affecting their businesses at the annual Day in Washington fly-in. Members of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the National Grocers Association (NGA), and the Food Industry Association Executives (FIAE) sat down with legislators to talk about tougher market competition, the transparency made possible by debit swipe fee reform, and tax code reforms that bring back predictability and jump-start capital investment.

“The grocery industry is hypercompetitive, with stores competing for customers on price, quality and service every day and averaging a narrow 1.9 percent profit margin every year,” said Leslie G. Sarasin, president and CEO of Arlington, Va.-based FMI. “Debit reforms have saved customers over $30 billion since 2010. Debit reforms brought transparency and predictability to the cost of accepting debit cards. Repealing these reforms would be an expensive step in the wrong direction.”

“As Congress prepares to consider tax reform legislation, it’s important for the decision-makers in Washington to hear directly from their Main Street supermarkets regarding the need for comprehensive tax reform,” noted Peter J. Larkin, president and CEO of the Arlington-based NGA. “Advocating for commonsense legislative policies, such as simplifying the tax code and achieving parity between pass-through companies and c-corps, and eliminating the death tax for family-owned businesses, are important to our members so they can focus on expanding their business, creating more jobs, and boosting local economies.”