Dive Brief:
- Recent headlines touched on the lobbying dollars dedicated by major food and beverage companies to issues like GMO labeling and dietary guidelines on Capitol Hill. Politico weighs in with a report on the "good food" companies that often either don't have the buying power or lack the desire to lobby.
- Some companies, like Whole Foods Market, Applegate Farms, and Hain Celestial Group, don't have lobbyists. Other companies, like Chobani and WhiteWave Foods, do their own lobbying, having spent $190,000 and $160,000 respectively in 2014. Still other companies are represented by trade associations and industry groups such as the Organic Trade Association or Natural Products Association, which each spent about $189,000 and $600,000 respectively on lobbying in 2014.
- To put those numbers into context, Coca-Cola Co. spent $9.3 million and PepsiCo Inc. spent $3.5 million on lobbying in 2014.
Dive Insight:
For many companies, lobbying and spending money on influencing Washington goes against their business principles. They either ignore the goings-on of Capitol Hill or find ways to promote causes and make their voices heard. A documentary advocating limiting antibiotics use for food animals was sponsored and promoted by Applegate, a company that does not have a lobbyist on its payroll.
Dan Fabricant, CEO of the Natural Products Association told Politico if organic and natural food companies think they can avoid engaging inside the Beltway because consumers love the sector, "that’s a really scary way of thinking about how D.C. works."