Key development: Impact on nutrition, labeling and trade.
What's next: Uniform labeling bill and CAFTA passage.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association, led by C. Manly Molpus, continues to be a major force in shaping the debate about the nutrition of Americans. From legislation and labeling to marketing and product design, Molpus has been actively pursuing an agenda that supports the interests of GMA's consumer packaged goods manufacturer members while addressing the health needs of consumers.
"Over the past year, we've had success in dealing with the health/wellness/nutrition issue," Molpus said. "Many of our suggestions to government have been acted on." For example, GMA is satisfied with the dietary guidelines issued by the federal government this year and will promote its new food pyramid, he noted. "They've been developed in a moderate way that addresses people's needs in a way that we can work with."
Molpus is also pleased that the Food and Drug Administration, in its advance rulemaking notice released recently, is addressing changes in food labeling to make them more consumer-friendly while promoting wellness and nutrition. GMA has responded with suggestions to make the print on labels bolder in reporting calories and serving size. "Our research says that needs to jump out to help consumers make purchase decisions," he said.
On the legislative level, GMA has worked against state bills that would tax snacks and has weighed in on proposed federal regulations. More recently, Molpus applauded the passage in the U.S. Senate of the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement -- CAFTA -- which offers tariff reductions to companies selling goods in those regions. "This is a huge win for the food industry," he said. "We are a global business, and this will open up another 44 million consumers." GMA expects the bill to pass in the House of Representatives and be signed by President Bush.
Next on the legislative agenda is a bill to be introduced in the House that would establish a uniform national standard for food labeling. "This would get states out of the labeling business," Molpus said. "If you ship nationally, you need one set of labels."
GMA is also taking on the issue of marketing and advertising of food products to children. Earlier this month, Molpus participated in a Federal Trade Commission workshop on this topic, offering suggestions on how the government could "responsibly deal with this issue and avoid unwarranted restrictions on freedom of speech," he said. "We'll talk about how this can best be done through self-regulation and show we have responsible marketing."
GMA member companies have also made progress internally on reformulating their products to "fit with the interest in nutrition and wellness," Molpus said. This includes reducing or removing trans fats and carbohydrates while promoting whole grains.
Another major item on Molpus' agenda is promoting technological progress in the food industry, especially synchronization of product data between manufacturers and retailers. In this area, the industry took a major step forward last fall with the unveiling of the Global Data Synchronization Network, which retailers and their suppliers are beginning to use.
"We've had a good response from manufacturers [to data synchronization], but we need more of a response from retailers," Molpus said. He thinks greater adoption will follow a better understanding of the advantages of trading partners synchronizing their product information. He also cited a new multi-association program aimed at improving the accuracy of manufacturers' data.
