Grocery From Her Seat, Insights for Independent Grocers
Grocery From Her Seat
Welcome to "Grocery From Her Seat," the WGA podcast offering a unique perspective on the independent grocery industry, as seen through the eyes of remarkable women who shape and lead.
Your host, Kristin Popp, President of WGA, will bring to light the inspiring stories, triumphs, and challenges of the women serving the industry of independent grocery.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a young person considering the profession, a woman making your mark in the grocery industry, an industry vendor or simply intrigued by the stories of powerful women, "Grocery From Her Seat" will be a source of education and inspiration for you
Grocery From Her Seat, Insights for Independent Grocers
Bonus Episode Grocery From Her Seat: NGA's Fight for Independent Grocers
Greg Ferrara, President and CEO of the National Grocers Association, brings his unique perspective as both a former independent grocer and long-time industry advocate to discuss the rapidly changing political landscape affecting food retailers.
Drawing from nearly two decades of experience at NGA and his background running his family's New Orleans supermarket, Ferrara offers a candid assessment of the volatile tariff situation that's "changing not by the day, but sometimes by the hour." He explains why even grocers who source little directly from China should be concerned about equipment costs, supply chain disruptions, and potential economic impacts on agricultural communities that export to affected countries.
The conversation explores surprising shifts in antitrust enforcement, with both political parties now showing interest in addressing market consolidation. Ferrara connects these issues directly to food deserts, noting how the loss of independent grocers devastates communities: "If we're going to rebuild middle America, rebuild these communities, rebuild our middle class, make America healthy again, we have to have grocery stores, full-service grocery stores."
Perhaps most concerning for grocers are coming changes to SNAP regulations, which Ferrara describes as "the greatest challenge we've had in 20-plus years." With states submitting waivers to restrict purchases and potential budget cuts looming, the industry faces significant uncertainty. The NGA is working to ensure any changes minimize disruption at checkout and recognize SNAP's role in supporting both economically disadvantaged communities and grocery jobs.
Ready to make your voice heard? Join the NGA fly-in this May in Washington DC and help shape the policies affecting your business.
NGA’s Fly-In for Fair Competition Begins in Washington, D.C. - National Grocers Association
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Host: Kristin Popp
Producer: Rachael Melot
Welcome to Checkout GR a bonus episode of the Women Grocers of America podcast. Grocery From Her Seat. Your host, kristen Popp, speaks with political influencers to understand new legislation, policy debates and emerging trends. Together, kristen and her guests explore how we can collectively be informed, take part in the conversation and shape policies impacting our industry. Now enjoy your bonus episode of Grocery From Her Seat.
Speaker 2:I am your host, Kristen Popp, and today I have the opportunity to chat with Greg Farrar, President and CEO of the National Grocers Association, on our Government Relations. Bonus episode Welcome to Grocery From your Seat, Greg.
Speaker 3:Hey, it's so great to be with you, Kristen. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for sharing your time with us today. So most of us are pretty familiar with you and your role within the NGA, but can you give a brief introduction of yourself, your background and then kind of your role as it relates to the political landscape that affects our grocery industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you bet. So I've actually been with NGA coming up 19 years. It's kind of hard to believe but prior to coming to Washington, my family owned and operated supermarkets in New Orleans for almost 100 years and I was blessed to grow up in the business and eventually was running our family store, which we lost during Hurricane Katrina at the end of 2005. And that's when I made the move up here to follow a girl that I was engaged to and we'll celebrate our 19-year anniversary here this summer. So it's been a great journey at NGA.
Speaker 3:You know I spent most of my time at NGA before I was selected for this CEO role doing our government affairs efforts and so whether it was initially, you know, kind of state and local issues, and then eventually moved into the federal space and eventually led our lobbying team and we really kind of built out the group that we have today and our political operation and everything else. And you know I love that. I love doing that, I love engaging with Congress and the administration and it's just been a wonderful ride to be here at NGA and part of such a great organization that represents the heart of America in terms of businesses.
Speaker 2:I love that. Your background is with. You know, running an independent operator and having that knowledge and awareness. I'm sure it helps you in your role today and you know you and your team do such great work in Washington and obviously, with everything going on right now, you guys have made a lot of movement for the independent and much appreciated and does not go unnoticed by any means. So let's go ahead and jump right in, greg. There's a lot going on in Washington right now, obviously, I think top of mind, I think there's actually a lot of things top of mind, but I think the big one right now in the news and I don't know where we go with this conversation because I don't know if we know what's going to happen but terrorists, right. What do we need to know? What are you guys seeing in Washington? What do we need to know and how will it impact our stores and our consumers?
Speaker 3:So it is changing, not by the day, but sometimes by the hour. We have all, I think, become accustomed to. The president likes to do public events in the Oval Office around 5, 5.30 in the evening and that typically are newsworthy events where he announces something that's going to happen. But look, it's a moving target. I think everyone in the world was shocked on quote unquote Liberation Day when, you know, the blanket worldwide tariffs were put into place and we saw what happened in the markets and really how that's reacted. We've seen the 90-day pause which we are in the middle of right now, and so while there are some tariffs that are still out there for example, you know, kind of across the board, 10% in a lot of areas and particularly around products that come out of Canada and Mexico that are covered under the USMCA, the old NAFTA agreement, but that's fairly minimal given what it could be.
Speaker 3:I think the unknown for a lot of folks is really what's going to happen with China and, we think, by the grocery industry.
Speaker 3:Maybe the initial reaction is well, it's China, we're not getting our tomatoes from China or a lot of food products really from China.
Speaker 3:But if you look at the equipment side and tech and there's a lot that does come out of China, or components of that, are impacted by what's happening there. And then, from just a local economy perspective, you know we export a decent amount of agriculture products to China, and so those communities that are dependent upon that, you know, could feel an impact, although the department of agriculture has said that they're going to, you know, work to protect farmers. So what we're doing right now is, uh, we are staying very close to the administration and very close to Congress. Uh, we are staying flexible. Uh, which is something that independent grocers are good at doing anyhow, but I think that's incredibly important is that, like, we're not going out there burning bridges and blowing things up. We're going to stay flexible, going to stay close and we're going to continue to communicate with the administration, because they need to know what we're hearing and what we're feeling from our members and how what the president is putting into effect is having an impact on local economies.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you make great points in there. It's not necessarily changing by the day or the week, but sometimes the hour, and us on the retailer side and in the industry are just trying to stay abreast of where the target's moving at any given point in time. Is there anything that you guys are recommending that you recommend we're doing right now?
Speaker 3:Juan Grocers, you're the closest touch to the consumer and so you need to be really communicating to your customers in a way that they understand what's going on, and we've helped do that. We've created science that retailers can use or modify on their own, whether it's under NGA's brand Sometimes that's helpful for people it's a third party or they can put it under their own retailer brand. But talk about why a price is elevated, why you might see shortages at the store. Same thing for tariffs. We've created signage that folks can use when they feel like they need to use it if they need to use it at all but be able to just communicate with your customers. We do everything we can. We source a lot locally, but we're a global economy and there are products whether it's food products or equipment and that could have an impact on prices. I do think it's important not to get too far ahead. Let's see how things play out. But I think you look at steel and aluminum. That's a big key focus area for the president. You know there are protectionist tariffs that have been put into place there. So what does that do to the price of refrigeration? What does that do to the price of store shelving and other displays. Those are things we need to be conscious of and what we're really trying to do here, kristen, is listen.
Speaker 3:We put a pulse survey out about two weeks ago just to our associate members with a few questions. That was hey, what are you feeling, what's going on, how are you going to react to this? And it was really great. We heard from you know a lot of different associate members. We heard from some vendors of products that, honestly, we weren't thinking about not food products but equipment, saying, hey, these are made in China and you know, if 145% tariff or whatever the number is, I can't even touch them. And so how are we helping that vendor communicate back to you know the administration and making sure they're aware of these type of things and so that we're not, you know, unfairly hurting consumers? Because politically, you know, I think a lot of folks would agree that President Trump won a lot on the price of food, right, because people groceries were so high. I think a lot of people would say let's give someone else a chance here. They're very sensitive to that. So anything that's going to drive the price of food up something they're listening to, I think, very intently.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about some of the other. Obviously, tariffs are top of mind, with every day in the news we're learning what may or may not be happening. But there's other top items that are in in Washington right now that we need to be paying attention to and that your team is doing some great work on. So let's let's dive into antitrust and where that's at right now and what you're seeing in Washington at right now and what you're seeing in Washington.
Speaker 3:It's been really interesting and we knew they were wrong. But you know, wall Street, I think, was baking in that the president had won and it was going to be open season on the M&A activity and antitrust under Lena Kahn and President Biden was going to be rolled back to the good old days, and we knew that wasn't going to be the case. Because if you've watched the evolution of the Republican Party as it's moved from, look, small government, you know low taxes, really more big Wall Street, pro big business, to where it is becoming today, which is, you know, more of middle class, working class, blue collar Americans, more of a populist movement, republicans more of a populist movement. Watch how JD Vance talks, watch how Trump talks. Now they've created this Republican Party and that Republican Party is pro-enforcement of antitrust laws, believe it or not. They question big, large murders and activity. They are questioning potential power buyers who are using their might to influence markets and to destroy local communities.
Speaker 3:And so you know, look, today, this issue has really ebbed and flowed over the years and sometimes it's really big, popular in the news and then other times it might seem a little quieter, but there's still a lot of activity happening. The Federal Trade Commission right now, you know, has two open antitrust legal actions going on right now in the courts under Robinson-Patman Act specifically. That hadn't happened in generations, and so I think that is still a very active live issue, despite what people you may hear in the media or not hear in the media, and it's a perfect opportunity for Main Street businesses, independent grocers, to be talking to the public policymakers about how do we rebuild our communities that, quite frankly, have been destroyed over the past few decades because of lax antitrust enforcement, because we've allowed the community grocery store and the pharmacy and the hardware store and all these other pillars of communities to be eviscerated because of antitrust laws weren't enforced and what it has done to those communities. There's opportunity to rebuild them, but to rebuild them we have to enforce the laws that are on the books.
Speaker 2:And is there anything skipping ahead a little bit here, but helping lead the charge in eliminating food deaths? It's really essentially that's what you're talking about, right? Absolutely. Because, when some of those laws and regulations aren't enforced, it does wipe out that smaller operator and those that are closely tied to the community. Is there anything else or any other policies that we should be considering to help eliminate those food deserts and help support those communities?
Speaker 3:Yeah, there's a lot of sensitivity around that, because it's not just you create a food desert, but you lose all the other small business opportunities around that. And you know, and your listeners know so well, if you don't have a grocery store, it is really hard for families to live in a community and know that they've got to drive, you know, 10, 20, 30 plus miles, maybe in a rural area, to get fresh foods, and that is something that is an economic issue. The other piece of this is this whole Maha movement Make America Healthy Again movement, which is very real, which is it's not just a grassroots movement, it's actually a political movement, a politically funded movement here in Washington. I don't know how many people are aware of that, but you can't make America healthy again if their only option is a dollar store selling a bunch of junk right and minimal fresh foods or no fresh foods at all.
Speaker 3:If we're going to rebuild middle America, we're going to rebuild these communities, we're going to rebuild our middle class, we're going to make America healthy again, we have to have grocery stores, full-service grocery stores. That are part of that conversation, and that is exactly what we are telling the administration, what we are telling Congress particularly. I know we're going to talk about probably snap in a minute here, but that ties in absolutely directly with that issue. We can't make people healthier again if they don't have access to fresh foods and to food in general. We've got to address the food desert issue.
Speaker 2:You're reading my mind here. I mean, I think, with the current administration's focus on America's chronic health disease and the epidemic that we're seeing from it and utilizing the SNAP program as a tool to help navigate some of those diseases and the epidemic that they're seeing, what's currently happening with SNAP and are there any changes that the grocers that us, as grocers should be aware of in the current landscape?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, folks who are at the NGA show listen to the keynote session. I, you know, intentionally told our members that, look, we've got some challenges coming up this year with SNAP and I think the greatest challenge that we've had in 20-plus years of doing this. We've always been incredibly successful at killing ideas that would, you know, add new cost and burdens to grocers, restrict SNAP or even, you know, cut the program. We are in a different environment today and there is a huge movement driven a lot by the Maha movement, which Secretary, you know, rfk Jr, is a huge disciple of, as is US Secretary Brooke Rollins, a huge disciple of this movement, and they are influencing kind of what is going on with the SNAP program. We have the administration encouraging states to submit waivers and we've got probably close to two dozen that either have done it or are going to be potentially doing that Waivers restrict what people can purchase on SNAP.
Speaker 3:Look, nga has always been agnostic on the food product. We've never gotten involved in saying, oh, everyone should be allowed to have, you know, x cookie or this drink. We don't feel that's our place, what our board has said. But our place is we're the last touch to the customer and so we want to make sure that we're able to serve that customer, that we're not in a position where we are going to be penalized or create chaos and confusion at retail because of what's allowed in the program and what's not, and people think, oh, it's very simple. Just, you can't have a soft drink or you can't have candy. Well, you have to define that. You have to legally say this is what this item is, so that we can implement that and enforce that. These are federal programs, these are federal money and we have to be very clear about what is in and what is out. So we're navigating that right now. We are going to have pilots. The first is likely to be Arkansas that will be approved and in place sometime in 26, and we'll have other states that are going to be coming forward.
Speaker 3:And then we've got other challenges, kristen, around SNAP and around you know, potential cuts to the program. We're going through the budget kind of reconciliation process and looking for pay force to extend the 2017 tax cuts. The agriculture committees have really been tasked with a pretty large number to come up with savings and I think a lot of folks believe that you know the area where there could be those savings is in the SNAP program. So our board actually, you know, for the first time approved our policy recommendation, which was to lobby on that issue, because it's not just we want SNAP to stay.
Speaker 3:You know a well-funded program. Snap equals jobs and they equal local jobs and we've got data. We're actually updating this data but over 200,000 direct jobs in grocery are tied to the SNAP program. Like it or not, we have economically disadvantaged communities in this country. We would love for every American to be off of SNAP and have good paying jobs, but that's not the case that we have right now. So if we're going to keep grocery stores in these communities or we're going to have an economy that has a chance of coming back in these communities, snap is a really, really important part of being able to do that.
Speaker 2:There's so much good information that you share with us and that just that conversation around SNAP. And one thing that without clear definition from a retailer's standpoint and then down to the end user, the consumer right that without that it does create significant challenges through the checkout process and then from operating a front end, you put individuals that are younger or not as aware and creating very sometimes tense situations at the register. So something I support is just clear definition and don't make us pick and choose what somebody can and can't have.
Speaker 3:And don't expose you guys to liability. What I will say is we NGA has a seat at the table. We have been over to the USDA and the White House more times than I can count. We are meeting at the highest levels of the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program. We are being listened to. Our recommendations are actually being implemented in a lot of areas and we're really proud that that is happening.
Speaker 3:But we know waivers are going to come. That is not a shift that we or anyone really can stop, and so our goal is how do we shape those in a way that they have minimal disruption on grocers, that they're as narrow as they can be and that we also minimize Kristen the potential economic fallout from it? So think about if you know, arkansas is going to likely have a waiver but Tennessee doesn't. Well, those stores that operate in the eastern part of the state, that are close to the border of Tennessee, could see economic leakage, because people who are on SNAP may say hey, you know it's too. I can buy the products I want in the state next door. It's a 20-minute drive. I'm going to do that and I get news for you. They're going to buy everything there and just bring it back home. So those are things that we want to make sure policymakers are understanding, that they're going to study, that they're aware of and they try to minimize the impact to the independent grocery industry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you mentioned the focus on the Maha. We're seeing stuff come out every day, right the food dyes, everything that we're seeing and just understanding what that means and how we'll navigate that going forward. So definitely something to keep an eye on. You mentioned dollar-type stores a little bit earlier in our conversation Independence, need to be able to compete with those format stores and national change. Is there anything happening policy-wise that we haven't touched on already that supports that need?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So one of the things let's let's stay on the SNAP, you know, piece of it is we are excited that the I think the administration agrees with our position is that if you're going to participate in the SNAP program, you need to be a food store and you need the majority of business needs to be food, and so we believe they are going to revisit the current minimum stocking requirements that exist today and look at ways to enhance those so that they understand the stores that are in program are actually, you know, food stores, and I think that will have an impact on some of the dollar stores that are out there.
Speaker 3:They're going to have to make decisions on, you know, whether they're going to be in or out. The other piece of it is and this continues to be the antitrust piece of that the channels of trade is a huge component of it, and so we are pushing aggressively there. You know we launched a campaign at the beginning of this year called Fair Markets, fresh Choices, and you can go to our website and see that we have some videos. But it talks, it's not just antitrust. It goes into the SNAP program and really kind of holistically looks at our advocacy efforts and ensuring that policymakers understand the importance of independent grocers, the importance of the role they play in the communities and how we need to make sure we're going to have strong American communities, particularly in middle America, middle-class communities. We need to have strong, independent grocers.
Speaker 2:So, as we look at the changing consumer preferences, how is that influencing policy and what should us, as grocers, be doing to prepare for some of these shifts that you're seeing?
Speaker 3:You know what's great about independent grocers? They have always been so far ahead of whatever the latest kind of policy movement is and Maha is a policy and a political movement. I look at that. I mean really it's the consumers have been saying, I think, for some time we want more natural, we want cleaner products, we want cleaner labels. And independent grocers in particular have been with those trends, sometimes ahead of those trends in their communities, for a while now. So I don't think it's really to me a big shock that we're seeing some of this take place. Grocers, at the end of the day, serve their customers and their communities and they are going to go to where the customer wants them to go, and that's really important for policymakers to understand and, quite frankly, for the CPG industry to understand as well. I think that's the area where independents are going to continue to win. We win in fresh, we win in local and we win in specialty and natural, and those are the opportunities that we want to continue leaning in on.
Speaker 2:I think the ability to pivot to the changes and do that in a much faster pace than what we see some of our competition able to pivot on.
Speaker 3:Bingo.
Speaker 2:You mentioned several wins that the NGA team has had and I know just before jumping on this call we talked about you and Stephanie being able to be at the USDA offices on a regular basis. Good, bad or indifferent, it still is impactful, it makes a difference to the industry. But are there any other major wins that you guys have had or seen that we haven't touched on?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know. Look, we fought incredibly hard and we're excited to see a delay in the FDA traceability implementation, enforcement implementation. There's still an enormous amount of work that needs to be done there, but giving some breathing room to the industry to try to figure out how to get this right not spend money unnecessarily on things that may not work I think was a great win, and so we're excited and appreciative of the Trump administration for listening to us and the industry in doing that. Kill a regulation that would dramatically increase the cost of refrigerants for grocers, particularly because the supply is not there to meet that regulatory demand. And we have a Congressional Review Act that NGA is leading here in Washington with other partners to pull back the management rule of that EPA refrigerant. And the reason NGA is leading this is we have one of our members in a rural part of Florida talked to his member of Congress about this. His member of Congress said I'll introduce the Congress Review Act bill for you because I know the impact this is going to have on our local food economy, and so they're doing that.
Speaker 3:We've also mentioned the antitrust work. Seeing that the Robin Spatman Act enforced for the first time in generations is really good, and I think companies are paying attention and are now educating their sales teams and others about how to make sure they're complying with the law and we're glad to see that kind of moving forward. And then we're very engaged on the tax piece a lot of noise around the tax extenders and whatnot, but at the end of the day a lot of our members are pass-through companies and whatnot, but at the end of the day a lot of our members are password companies. We've got a lot of family-owned businesses and we want to make sure that those provisions that will expire at the end of this year are going to be extended or made permanent to make sure our businesses can continue to fairly compete and have the ability to serve their community for many years to come.
Speaker 2:Well, again, your team does such a great job I mean under your leadership of knowing where you need to be and then getting that seat so that your voices can be heard, and again, I can't underappreciate the work that you guys are doing up there and in Washington for us. So we haven't touched on the traceability rule and I know we're all excited that this got pushed back, but what does that look like? What should we be still doing and aware of and considering, even though there is a delay in the execution of it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's not going to go away, but we believe the administration will be more open to ideas that can make it more workable and more flexible. Right, we want to make sure that industry is not spending an enormous amount of money for very little return or consumer protections, and so those are the conversations that we're having these are not just NGA conversations, these are really food supply chain conversations and with other partners that are part of that as well and making sure we're bringing those recommendations to the agency and the new agency leadership FDA reports up to Health and Human Services. That's Secretary Kennedy. We've got a new FDA commissioner that was just sworn in last week or so and we've got a lot of policy people changes.
Speaker 3:I mean everyone's hearing about the government people that are retired been taking the buyouts, retired early or being let go. Those are real, and there are a lot of people that you know are no longer at the agencies or leaving the agencies. Some of them had some pretty deep wells of experience, and so we probably have a lot of education to do in kind of rebuilding that. But I think we have a lot of opportunity there to make some improvements. But my advice to our member companies is to continue to be working on this because it's not going to completely go away.
Speaker 2:Is there any legislative actions or initiatives that you recommend grocers watch closely? I mean, we've touched on so much throughout this discussion, but is there anything that we should be looking at closely that we haven't hit on?
Speaker 3:Yeah, look, I think it needs to continue to be focused on tax. When it moves, it may move quickly. Tiny margins in the House of Representatives means a lot of the sausage baking I think is going to be done behind closed doors, and so that's something that you know. We want to make sure that we're all attuned to, and our members should be talking to their local members of Congress. That's why we have such a robust store tour program. Reach out to us. We'd love to set a store tour up with your member of Congress and you and you just talk about hey, we're a family-owned business, we're third generation, fifth generation, so the estate tax is important to us. We're grocery stores. Most of our assets are non-liquid, they're tied up in inventory and fixtures and equipment and real estate. Right, they need to understand that.
Speaker 3:I was listening to a member of Congress on one of the business talk shows on the way in to work one morning this week and he said look, I've got a lot of family-owned businesses in my district, and so he was in tune to that and saying we're not going to allow them to have even more disparity between the corporate rate and the pass-through rate. So that's an important thing. The Farm Bill, if it ever happens, is going to be key, and then you continue to work on antitrust. I think it's really important for members of Congress, particularly the judiciary committees, to continue feeling the pressure, to continue hearing from their small business constituents that we expect Congress and the elected representatives to hold the federal agencies accountable. Laws that Congress has passed and the president signed into law need to be enforced, and the current chair of the FTC, andrew Ferguson, believes that and has said that publicly. We want to make sure that the Congress holds those agencies' feet to the fire and that they continue to do their jobs.
Speaker 2:I want to highlight that when you talk about doing SOAR tours, if you have the opportunity or the ability to do that, make time. We've participated in it and I do think it really is a game changer in showing what really happens. How does this really impact? You know whether it's X, y or Z that we're talking about, but how does it actually impact the day-to-day, the consumer, our operations and being able to show that it really has been impactful?
Speaker 3:It is huge and, by the way, that tour might last 30 minutes, an hour and a half. Whatever can pay years of positive dividends in terms they remember those tours.
Speaker 2:Looking ahead with this being a Women Grocers of America podcast, I would be amiss if I did not ask you what advice you would give to women in the grocery industry that want to become more involved in political advocacy or influencing on policy.
Speaker 3:Over 150 women are part of the US Congress today. Our Department of Ag Secretary is a woman and a mom of four kids, Our Small Business Administ administrator is a woman and we have other cabinet secretaries, like Linda McMahon in education, that are women. We need our women leaders in this industry to be active. We need you to be involved in public policy and our store tours. Many are involved. Today Our government relations committee has a really great bench of women leaders that are involved and are great advocates, as is our board of directors. But we need you know when we have our fly-in coming up here in about a month away, a little less than a month away, here in Washington, May 20th through the 21st. You know we have a number of women that will be part of that. But the more women that come to Washington and are a voice, you can have some kind of greater influence because you'll stand out and you can connect better to those members of Congress or administrative officials who are female leaders.
Speaker 3:And I think if I look at some of the senior leaders at USDA under the secretary, they're female leaders to come lend your voice and your perspective, not just as an industry leader but, as you know, potentially a mom or, you know, part of your family, and to share that perspective. That's how we make a difference and how we advance the policy forward. I would add to that, Kristen, because you've shared this with me. You know, first time you came to Washington a number of years ago. It can be intimidating. It can be intimidating to go up to Congress, and that's not just for a woman, that's for a man as well. But I think once you do it and you see it and you experience it, you realize this is important, this is really cool and I can make a difference. And so I encourage folks to be part of the fly-ins, be part of our executive conference, come to Washington, lend your voice and help independent grocers continue to make a difference in Washington and then across the country.
Speaker 2:What you said, yes, was it intimidating? Absolutely, and I don't to your point. I don't think. I think that's gender neutral, right, it's intimidating it absolutely is gender neutral.
Speaker 3:Trust me, yes.
Speaker 2:And your team does such a great job of educating us and letting us know what we need to be aware of when we go into those meetings. You don't have to be an expert on anything. What you have to be able to do is tell your story and, again, the impact that that leaves on our representatives pays dividends for a very long time. So I encourage everybody to experience the fly and I'll be in DC here in May, and not too far from where we're at today and I'm looking forward to another great round of conversations and being able to just tell that story.
Speaker 3:I will add to that it is telling a story. We don't want you to be a policy expert. I don't want you to be a lobbyist. I don't want you to be a legal expert. I just want you to be a grocer. I want you to be a food industry executive. I want you to come and tell your story. That's it, because you can explain it better than anybody how credit card fees are impacting your business or how lack of antitrust enforcement is creating unlevel playing fields and hurting the communities that you're trying to serve. We'll take care of the rest.
Speaker 2:Just come tell your story and you can make a difference Absolutely. And I think the other thing that I learned is asking questions and I learned a lot from just observing. I was in a meeting with a representative that we did ask some questions and point some things out. And next thing, I know we have the law, the written law, on the table and we're looking through the book and having just really impactful conversations that were eye opening to not only us but the representative as well. Not only an awesome experience to be on the Hill in Washington, but it definitely does have significant value to the industry as a whole.
Speaker 3:And it's cool. I'm sorry. Washington is a beautiful city, it's your capital. You know, I've never met anyone who's come here who wasn't wowed. It's just really neat to be part of.
Speaker 2:Greg, as we wrap up, I just want to say thank you so much for your time today. I know you guys are busy in Washington with everything going on, so I do appreciate you taking the time to step aside and have this conversation.
Speaker 3:Well, hey, it's wonderful to be with you and your listeners. Thanks for the opportunity again to come on to the podcast and I look forward to seeing folks in September in Atlanta for the WGA Summit. It's going to be fantastic. Let's see if we can't sell that event out here before we get to the summer. Thanks, greg, I appreciate it. Great to be with you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in to CheckoutGR, a bonus podcast episode of Women Grocers of America. We hope today's conversation inspired you to be more engaged with the policy issues shaping our industry. Subscribe to Grocery From Her Seat for more insights and conversations with women leaders in the grocery world. Stay informed, stay engaged and share Grocery From Her Seat on your favorite podcast listening platform.
