Industry Profile: Grocery Manufacturers Association
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Published by Food and Water Watch
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) represents more than 300 of the United States' biggest food and beverage companies.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) represents more than 300 of the United States' biggest food and beverage companies.
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The GMA lobbies he ederal and sae governmens o keep business coss low or is members by keeping regulaions loose or even volunary. The prioriies o he GMA align wih is member companies’ botom lines, and no wih he healh and well-being o consumers. The GMA ighs o keep genei-cally engineered oods (GMOs) unlabeled, o oppose manda-ory counry-o-origin labeling and o block any limiaions on markeing junk ood o children. The GMA is governed by is Board o Direcors, made up o CEOs and company leaders o 50 o he member companies. The board represens some o he larges ood companies in he Unied Saes, including ConAgra, General Mills, Kellogg Company, PepsiCo, Dean Foods, Unilever, Kraf and Smih-ield.
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(See
Table.)
The GMA is a powerul player in Washingon. Beween 2001 and 2012, he GMA poliical acion commitee donaed more han $1 million o ederal candidaes, poliical paries and oher campaign commitees.
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Bu i is a much bigger presence roam-ing he halls o Congress. From 2004 o 2013, he GMA spen $38.9 million lobbying he U.S. Congress and ederal officials.
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In 2013 alone, he GMA spen $14.3 million lobbying on ood labeling, counry-o-origin labeling, labeling oods wih genei-cally engineered ingrediens (commonly known as GMO label-ing), ood markeing o children and oher regulaions affecing he ood and beverage indusry.
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According o he Cener or Responsive Poliics, in 2013, 32 ou o 38 GMA lobbyiss were well-conneced ormer legislaive or execuive branch saffers, including a 25-year veeran o he Food and Drug Adminisra-ion (FDA) who became a lobbyis afer heading he FDA’s ood saey office under Presiden George W. Bush.
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The GMA also has a srong ooprin on sae legislaures. The GMA and is employees donaed more han $785,000 o sae assembly candidaes and ballo measures in 24 saes and had lobbyiss in a leas 15 saes beween 2003 and 2012, accord-ing o he Insiue or Money in Sae Poliics.
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The GMA has led he effor o deea GMO labeling effors a he sae level. The GMA and is member companies donaed a combined $54.7 million o deea GMO labeling ballo iniia-ives in Caliornia in 2012 and Washingon sae in 2013.
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(See Figure on page 3.) In 2012, GMA presiden Pamela Bailey declared ha deeaing Caliornia’s Prop 37 GMO labeling ballo iniiaive was he “single-highes prioriy or GMA [ha] year.”
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The GMA and is member companies narrowly deeaed he Caliornia ballo iniiaive (48.6 percen o voers suppored GMO labels and 51.4 percen opposed), hanks o he ood and bioechnology indusries’ $35.7 million in cam-paign adverising agains he iniiaive.
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In Caliornia, GMA member companies donaed direcly o he campaign o deea he GMO labeling iniiaive, bu some advocaes encouraged consumers o boycot ood companies ha opposed he measure, and shareholder advocaes urged companies o sop opposing GMO labeling effors.
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The ood indusry pulled ou heir checkbooks ye again o deea he 2013 Washingon sae GMO labeling iniiaive. Bu his ime, he GMA was he bigges conribuor o he opposi-ion campaign by collecing donaions rom is members, effecively unneling and concealing he corporae opposiion o GMO labeling. This was par o he GMA’s effor o “com-ba cerain hreas and beter shield companies rom atack.”
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he Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) represents more than 300 of the United States’ biggest food and beverage companies.
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GMA members also include some of the largest seed and biotechnology companies (like Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences and Syngenta).
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FOOD
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Gary Rodkin, ChairConAgra Foods$2,004,951 Kendall Powell, Vice ChairGeneral Mills$2,099,571 William Cyr, Treasurer/SecretarySunny Delight Beverages Co.$170,247
Sun Products Corp. J. P. BilbreyThe Hershey Co.$879,350 J. S. Brown IIIBruce Foods Corp.$42,864 John BryantKellogg Co.$1,113,000 Mark ClouseMondelez Global LLC$391,336 Sean ConnollyHillshire Brands$368,675 Brian CornellPepsiCo., Inc.$4,838,366 James CraigieChurch & Dwight Co., Inc.George DeeseFlowers Foods Inc.$387,199 J. Alexander Douglas, Jr.Coca Cola Co.$3,220,851 Brian DriscollDiamond Foods Inc.Stanley DunbarMoody Dunbar, Inc.$7,619 Gregg EnglesWhiteWave Foods Co.
Hormel Foods Corp.$544,703 Tom FerriterBush Brothers & Co.$23,565 C.J. FraleighShearer’s Foods Inc.$36,656 Joseph GalloE&J Gallo WineryRobert GamgortPinnacle Foods Group, LLC$441,525 David GeiseFurmano FoodsWilliam Gisel, Jr.Rich Products Corp.$283,211 Paul GrimwoodNestlé USA$2,989,806 Kenneth Guise, Jr.Knouse Foods Cooperative$188,546 James Hannan
Melanie HealeyProcter & Gamble Co.Bradley IrwinWelch Foods, Inc.$208,893 William JohnsonH. J. Heinz Co.$500,000 Donald KnaussThe Clorox Co.$57,155
Unilever$467,100 Christopher LischewskiBumble Bee Foods, LLC$472,965 Reid MacDonaldFaribault Foods Inc.$76,000 Apu ModyMars Food North America$498,350 John MorganMorgan Foods, Inc.Denise MorrisonCampbell Soup Co.$982,888 Gregory PageCargill, Inc.$381,522 Randy PapadellisOcean Spray Cranberries, Inc.$489,395 Clement PappasClement Pappas & Co., Inc.$130,547 Christopher PolicinskiLand O’Lakes, Inc.$298,178 C. Larry Pope
$683,900 Garry PrinceBimbo Bakeries USA$560,360 Richard SmuckerThe J. M. Smucker Co.$904,978 Thomas StokesTree Top, Inc.$110,600 Gregg TannerDean Foods Co.$428,503 W. Anthony VernonKraft Foods Group$2,000,500 David WestDel Monte Foods Co.$799,777 Alan WilsonMcCormick & Co., Inc.$396,569 David YandaLakeside Foods, Inc.Kevin HuntRalston Foods, Inc.
* Total contributed to defeat GMO labeling initiatives in California (2012) and Washington state (2013).
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While ha approach may have helped proec GMA members rom public backlash, i poenially ran aoul o Washingon elecion laws. Washingon sae sued he GMA or allegedly illegally bundling corporae campaign conribuions and ailing o disclose he donors ha opposed he I-522 GMO labeling iniiaive.
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The GMA evenually disclosed is mem-bers’ conribuions, bu in January 2014 i iled a counersui challenging he consiuionaliy o Washingon’s campaign inance laws.
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Afer years o cosly conroversy over labeling in he saes, i migh seem ha he ood indusry would wan o make his issue go away and o give consumers wha hey wan: more inormaion abou wha hey’re eaing. Insead, he GMA is asking he ederal governmen o preven saes rom label-ing GMOs. In 2014,
Politico
leaked a GMA legislaive plan o allow only volunary GMO labeling (undercuting momenum or mandaory labeling) and o prohibi saes rom imple-mening GMO labeling laws i hey’re no idenical o he vol-unary ederal ramework.
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And o add insul o injury, he GMA even wans o allow GMO ingrediens in oods bear-ing a “naural” label, a currenly undeined and unregulaed markeing erm.
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Consumers rely on nuriion labeling o make decisions abou he oods hey eed heir amilies. Bu he curren nuriion ac-panel labels on he back o ood packages are conusing, and many ood manuacurers place markeing gimmicks on he ron o he packaging ha suggess nuriional inormaion ha can be misleading.
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The Prevenion Insiue ound ha he majoriy o he manuacurers’ ron-o-package nuriional markeing inormaion was o quesionable value o consumers.
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In 2011, he GMA spearheaded an indusry-led volunary approach o ron-o-package nuriion labeling ha would include calories, sauraed a, sal and oal sugar as well as give manuacurers he abiliy o highligh posiive ingredi-ens (calcium, poassium, iber, ec.).
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The GMA volunary sysem would allow manuacurers o somewha decepively highligh healhul nuriens in less-han-healhy oods, such as he calcium in ice cream or iber in sugary cereal.
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The GMA’s coordinaed volunary approach, including a $50 million markeing campaign, appeared o be an effor o deer ederal effors o se sandards or hese labels.
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The GMA dismissed he need or a ederal sandard or ron-o-pack-age labeling, counering ha consumers “wan o make heir own judgmens, raher han have governmen ell hem wha hey should or should no ea.”
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Many consumer groups, public healh expers and even he FDA have recommended or considered a sandardized and simple ron-o-package labeling scheme like a raffic ligh or numerical scale ha would allow consumers o assess he overall nuriional qualiy o wha hey were buying.
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Bu he GMA’s effors have apparenly salled effors o develop a com-monsense and sandardized ron-o-package labeling sysem.
In he las decade, he public has pressured he ood indusry o rein in heir markeing o children in he wake o drasic increases in childhood obesiy. Considerable research has shown ha he oods ha are mos heavily adverised on Saurday morning children’s elevision programs are in direc conras o dieary guidelines, and hese oods end o have high levels o a, sugars and sal.
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Responding o he pres-sure and preemping regulaory guidelines, he GMA, along wih oher ood manuacurers and adverising rade organi-zaions, co-ounded he Alliance or American Adverising in 2005 o deend he Firs Amendmen righs o he junk ood indusry, igh effors o limi ood markeing o children and promoe indusry-proposed volunary guidelines as opposed o governmen oversigh o markeing o children.
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Even when hree governmen agencies came ogeher in 2011 o esablish an Ineragency Working Group on Food Marke-ed o Children ha released volunary guidelines or indusry sel-regulaion, he GMA lobbied heavily o keep he guide-lines rom being inalized.
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In 2011, he GMA’s vice presiden said ha “here’s no bigger prioriy or he ood secor” han scutling he children’s adverising volunary guidelines.
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Public healh organizaions, he Federal Trade Commission and he vas majoriy o he 29,000 public commens sup-pored he Working Group’s proposal, bu indusry pressure rumped public healh and Congress prevened he process rom being compleed.
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GMA MembersGMA
California 2012(Prop. 37)Washington 2013(I-522)*
(in millions)
* In Washington, many GMA members donated to a GMA fund that contributed to the opposition.
SOURCE: Food & Water Watch analysis of Washington state Public Disclosure data and MapLight California election data.
