U.S. CPG Companies Directly Employ 1.7 Million: Study

Food, beverage and consumer products companies directly employed more than 1.7 million workers in manufacturing, and directly and indirectly contributed more than 6 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), new study commissioned by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and conducted by New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), has found.

Based on 2009 government data, the study, “Economic Impact of the U.S. Grocery Manufacturing Industry,” looks food, beverage and consumer products companies’ impact on U.S. employment, labor income, gross domestic product, and the industry’s effect on related sectors of the nation’s economy.

Among the other key findings were:

• In 2009, food and beverage companies alone directly provided more than 1.5 million jobs, which accounted for about 13 percent of all U.S. manufacturing jobs. This makes food and beverage manufacturing one of the largest employers in the manufacturing sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
• Each food and beverage industry job supported an average of five jobs in other sectors of the economy, including agriculture, construction, other manufacturing, transportation and finance.
• In 2009, U.S. grocery manufacturers paid workers more than $94 billion in wages and benefits, and in total supported another $424 billion in wages and benefits in other sectors of the economy. The food and beverage industry alone paid workers $78 billion in wages and benefits.
• In 2009, U.S. grocery manufacturers directly contributed $173 billion to the U.S. GDP and in total supported more than $900 billion in U.S. GDP. The food and beverage sector alone contributed $128 billion directly to the gross domestic product, and an additional $600 billion in indirect contributions.
• In total, food and beverage manufacturers’ economic activities directly and indirectly accounted for nearly 5 percent of wages, salaries and benefits paid in the United States and more than 5 percent of the U.S. GDP.

When the PwC results are combined with Bureau of Labor Statistics data on retail and distribution jobs, the result is that food industry helps employ more than 15 million Americans across the entire value chain.

“America’s food, beverage and consumer product companies are a major part of the country’s economic engine,” said Pamela G. Bailey, president and CEO of Washington-based GMA. “In more than 30,000 facilities across the country, our industry is part of the economic backbone of the U.S. economy and provides 300 million Americans and 6 billion people around the world with safe, healthy, convenient and affordable food and consumer products.”

The complete GMA-PwC report can be found at www.healthyaffordablefoods.org or www.gmaonline.org/file-manager/GMA_Econ_Impact_Analysis_Oct_24_2011.pdf.