Enacts the "consumer grocery pricing fairness act"

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

• Democratic12

Shown in neutral colors by design; Agora is non-partisan.

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Cordell Cleare says this is needed

Independent grocers are the backbone of New York's food economy, partic- ularly in New York City and the State's rural and low-income communi- ties. But, because of the anticompetitive practices of big box retailers and national grocery chains who extract lower prices from suppliers, these small businesses, and their wholesaler distributors and suppliers, are not able to compete on a level playing field, resulting in rising food prices for consumers across New York. As a result, many of New York's small and independent food retailers are struggling to survive, food deserts are increasingly widespread among New York communities, and the price of food has skyrocketed, crushing consumers. This bill will prohibit suppliers from engaging in unfair price discrim- ination against independent retailers. This bill requires that suppliers offer deals on price, packaging, delivery terms, marketing, and other terms to independents that are equivalent to the deals they give to big box retailers. This requirement protects scale efficiencies from truck- load-volume purchases while prohibiting discriminatory terms that are often demanded by dominant buyers and unrelated to any genuine efficien- cies. This bill also imposes liability for dominant buyers who coerce suppliers into offering them preferential terms and prices not justified by efficiency. Through an economic principle called the "waterbed effect," suppliers make up lost profits from discounted sales to domi- nant buyers by charging higher prices to smaller buyers-higher prices those smaller buyers have no choice but to pass along to consumers. Dominant buyers also often impose one-time, in-full, delivery require- ments on suppliers that result in wasted product at big box stores and shortages at smaller retailers. This bill would hold those buyers responsible when these preferential terms are not justified by produc- tive efficiencies. Unfair terms imposed by dominant buyers harm competi- tion by driving out smaller rivals, and stopping this conduct will preserve retail choice while protecting the competition that improves quality and lowers prices. Passage of this bill is essential to address- ing the affordability crisis and rising consumer costs and protecting New York's small businesses by ensuring fair pricing based on transpar- ency and competition, not the monopolistic practices of dominant corpo- rations.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.