IBIE - 2019 Special Edition & Show Preview - 103

INDUSTRY CHECKOFF PROGRAM

BREADBASKET
THE YEAR OF THE

CHECKOFF

The baking and milling industries are working to better bread's reputation.
by Josh Sosland, Milling & Baking News

Of considerable concern on the eve of the 2019 IBIE
have been persistently and increasingly weak trends
in the demand for grain-based foods. A counterforce
to worries about sluggish baked foods sales has been
steadily building excitement over the prospective launch
of an industry checkoff program. In addition to an IBIE
year, 2019 appears to be shaping up as the year of the
breadbasket checkoff.
In late spring, a steering committee of millers and
bakers was finalizing documents to be submitted to the
US Department of Agriculture (USDA). After review
by the department, the details of the proposed program
will be published for a 60-day public comment period.
Subject to the comments and possible changes to the
program, USDA will determine whether the program
should be launched for what is planned to be a threeyear trial period, ahead of an industry referendum.
The idea of exploring a potential checkoff program
for grain-based foods dates back many years. Interest
emerged in 2013 when interviews were conducted with
stakeholders in the industry to gauge their feedback of
how well the Grain Foods Foundation (GFF), with an
annual budget of less than $3 million, was progressing in
the pursuit of its mission. The interviews were conducted by Statler Nagle LLC. Jean Statler, a founder of Statler
Nagle, had been part of Wirthlin Associates in the early
2000s, and in that capacity conducted values research
toward what became GFF. More recently, Tom Nagle, a
managing partner of Statler Nagle, conducted 55 interviews in 2016 across about 35 companies. Interest in a

checkoff was expressed in 2013 and intensified in 2016.
Funded by industry, checkoff programs are designed to expand market share and increase revenue.
The programs are overseen by USDA, as authorized
by Congress, and once approved, require industrywide contributions for activities aimed at promoting
that industry.
At the annual meeting of the American Bakers
Association (ABA), Christine Cochran, GFF executive
director, said a checkoff program was identified as a way
to tackle a "challenge that would otherwise go unaddressed by any individual company."
"We wanted to change the perception of bread to increase unit sales, and we wanted to produce scientific
research that would support the category as a whole,"
she said.
"Why (a checkoff program)?" she asked. "It's a mandatory program that allows the industry to address a
shared problem at scale."
As agreed upon by the steering committee, an
annual budget of $15 million is planned for the
checkoff program, of which 85% will be paid by
bakers and 15% by millers. To raise the necessary funds, 16¢ per hundredweight of wheat
flour used to bake breadbasket products will
be paid into the program. Bakers will collect the
millers' contributions.
Breadbasket products are defined
under the proposal as fresh and frozen
sliced bread and unsliced bread, rolls,

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