Making a Dollar and Making a Difference

My colleague Jimmy Wright, owner of Wright’s Market in Opelika, AL, keeps reminding me and other retailers there is a way for retailers to “Make a dollar and make a difference” by offering SNAP beneficiaries a produce incentive program. 

While Jimmy’s experiences over the last two years offering a Double Up Food Bucks program to SNAP customers are unique to his store, other retailers may have the opportunity to experience similar benefits. 

• Increased fresh produce sales.
• Increased communication and connection with SNAP shoppers.
• An Increased positive store relationship with the community. 

Jimmy is part of the National Grocers Association Foundation Technical Assistance (NGAF TAC) team helping retailers explore what SNAP produce incentives are and how to establish a program in their stores. As part of the Nutrition Incentive Hub*, the NGAF TAC is available to consult with retailers on establishing an incentives program. There is no cost or NGA membership required for our services. 

What Are SNAP Produce Incentives?
2018 U.S. Congressional farm legislation included funding to establish SNAP produce incentive programs at retail food stores. Incentive programs encourage SNAP clients to include more fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets. Retailers offer discounts on qualifying fresh fruits and vegetables and then are fully reimbursed for the discounts by a partnering non-profit agency.  

Three examples of how incentives programs may be implemented are provided below. 

• Percentage discounts, sometimes up to 50%, deducted during the SNAP transaction on qualifying produce items.  
• Discount coupons printed upon completion of a qualifying SNAP transaction redeemable for a future purchase of qualifying fresh fruits and vegetables.  
• Discounts for qualifying produce purchases may be issued and redeemed as part of store loyalty programs. 

How Do I Start a SNAP Incentives Program? 
Funding for SNAP produce incentive programs must be provided by a separate non-profit organization – often called a grantee. Food banks, hunger relief organizations and health systems are a few of the organizations receiving funding and seeking retailer partners. 

Below are the basic steps for establishing a program. 

• Locate a non-profit grantee currently providing funding for a SNAP incentive program. Some agencies are local, and others may be regional or national.  
• Work with grantee to design a SNAP produce incentive program for your store. The grantees will require certain reporting capabilities from retailers to maintain program financial integrity.  
• Key to your store incentive program design is the ability of your POS system to conduct an incentive transaction. An example of a quick and efficient SNAP incentive POS transaction is one that: 

• Does not require cashier intervention at issuance or redemption of the incentive. 
• Automatically recognizes a SNAP transaction.  

• Automatically determines products eligible for incentive issuance and redemption. 
• Able to handle “mixed tender” transactions where combinations of SNAP, WIC, credit/debit or cash tenders are involved. 
• Provides reporting requirements for grantee/retailer to maintain financial integrity. 

Caveats?
There are two primary challenges for retailers to consider when deciding whether to start a program. 

• The availability of grants is not uniform across the country and there are many areas where funding is not currently available.  

• Some POS systems may be incapable of efficiently conducting SNAP incentive transactions or the costs to update systems may be too high.  

Jimmy Wright has set an outstanding example for store operators across the country on how to identify and work with a grantee, work with his POS provider to create a process for incentive transaction processing and most importantly, help SNAP clients in his community. Larger chain retailers are also having success with implementations across the country.  

Contact Us
If you are interested in following Jimmy’s lead and learning how your store might be able to “Make a Dollar and Make a Difference”, we are ready to help!  

Email us at incentives@nationalgrocers.org or call Ted Mason at 859-608-6846 for more information.  

* The Nutrition Incentive Hub, funded through a cooperative agreement from the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, is a new national resource that provides training, technical assistance, reporting, and evaluation for those working to launch or expand SNAP incentives or produce prescription programs. The Hub is led by Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition in partnership with Fair Food Network along with a coalition of evaluators, researchers, practitioners, and grocery and farmers market experts from across the country dedicated to strengthening and uniting the best thinking in the field to increase access to affordable, healthy food to those who need it most.