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Assembly and Senate Committees Release $15 Minimum Wage
This week both the Senate and Assembly Labor Committees released S-15 and A-15, which increases the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour on January 1, 2017, and increases the wage annually from 2018 to 2021 by the larger of $1.25 per hour or the sum of $1.00 per hour plus any increase in the CPI-W. Annual increases will be tied to the CPI-W after 2021.
NJFC again testified in opposition to this huge increase and focused on the detrimental impact to our industry, stagnant job growth and price increases. We will continue to relay our concerns to legislators and we are working with our economists to finish the economic analysis of our industry, with a focus on employment and the market basket.
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US Department of Labor Releases Final Overtime Rule
Earlier this week the U.S. Department of Labor issued its
final rule
on overtime pay. This rule would result in certain salaried employees who are currently exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) being reclassified as non-exempt and entitled to overtime pay. This rule doubles the salary threshold for overtime exemption to $47, 476, a slight reduction from the draft proposal which put the threshold at $50, 440. This figure will be tied to the 40th percentile of the lowest Census region, which is currently in the South. Automatic increases will happen every three years.
NJFC has been working with our national partners on this issue and submitted comments relaying our concerns with the proposal. While some of our recommendations were taken into consideration, such as not making changes to the duties test, this rule is still a significant expense and burden on our industry. The effective date of the final rule is December 1, 2016.
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Assembly Committee Releases Plastic Bag Bill
The Assembly Environment Committee on Thursday released A-3671 which would implement a statewide 5 cent bag fee on paper and plastic carry-out bags and preempt all local proposals.
The amended bill provides for a program which has already worked successfully in Montgomery County, MD. As part of our members' larger focus on improving sustainability and our solid waste management efforts, the Food Council is taking a progressive approach to this issue. We have learned from the success in Montgomery that a carefully crafted bag fee can have the intended environmental benefit while having little negative impact on retailers.
The pre-emption for both paper and plastic bags provided in the bill is absolutely crucial to our members, some of whom operate in as many as 250 different municipalities. As more municipalities consider their own actions on single-use bags, now is the time to implement a statewide standard. Numerous jurisdictions nationally have taken action on bags, with widely differing results. However, New Jersey would be the second state to enact a single state-wide standard.
The bill was supported by NJFC and was released by the committee by a bipartisan 5 to 1 vote with Republican Scott Rumana casting the sole dissenting vote and Republican Dave Wolfe joining the four Democratic committee members in support. The bill does not yet have a Senate sponsor.
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ICYMI:
NJ Food Business Leaders Discuss
Future of the Industry at NJFC Annual Conference
Debbie Pregiato Receives NJFC's Prestigious
Max Stone Trade Relations Award
Discussing the latest market trends and innovations, over 250 leaders from New Jersey's food retail and distribution businesses gathered in Atlantic City to discuss the future of the food industry.
To view more photos, click here.
The New Jersey Food Council (NJFC) 2016 Trade Relations Conference featured presentations from John Derderian, President of Allegiance Retail Services, on the "State of the Food Industry" and Tim O'Conner, Managing Partner of the Retail Performance Group on "Retail Transformation 2020."
"We are thrilled to have so many of the state's leaders in the food industry here with us in Atlantic City to discuss the latest trends, innovations and digital focus of the food business," said NJFC President and CEO Linda Doherty. "John and Tim provided insightful presentations that bring a new perspective on retail challenges in the NJ marketplace. Both presentations provided an excellent opportunity for members to consider how to deal with 'market disruptors' and other future changes that are sure to impact our industry."
Additionally, Debbie Pregiato, Customer Team Leader for Advantage Solutions, was honored with the New Jersey Food Council's Max Stone Trade Relations Award. Debbie is the first woman to receive this prestigious recognition.
"Debbie's role as a leader on our new member development campaign, business partnerships with NJFC members and her continuous dedication to the advancement of the Food Council's mission made her an obvious choice," said Doherty. "Debbie has forged long lasting food industry relationships and is a role model as a respected trade relations leader."
The Max Stone Award is named in honor of the longtime trade relations leader for Best Foods, CPC in recognition of his accomplished career in trade relations in New Jersey.
The Conference began with a highly-anticipated Supermarket Chef Cook-off and concluded with an industry-wide golf outing sponsored by NJFC.
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ICYMI:
NJ Food Council Holds Inaugural
Best Chef Cook-Off Challenge
Food Circus Supermarkets Wins "Best Chef 2016" Award
Food Circus Foodtown Supermarkets last week won the highly-anticipated Best Chef 2016 award at the New Jersey Food Council's inaugural "Supermarket Chef Cook-off Challenge" during the Trade Relations Conference in Atlantic City. The cook-off provided an opportunity for New Jersey retail food industry chefs to showcase their culinary skills and compete for NJFC's highly-coveted cooking award.
Culinary teams from four New Jersey supermarkets participated in the competition, in which they created an entrée and dessert in the Viking Kitchen at Harrah's Resort within a specified amount of time. Each entrée and dessert was scored in three categories - plating, taste, and creativity. Taking top honors at the competition was Miguel Morales and Marisa Ricardo from Food Circus Foodtown Supermarkets of New Jersey. The winning chef's served the judges Pan Seared Sea Scallops with Mole Sauce and for dessert Plantains and Apple Walnut Crepes.
"This was definitely one of the highlights of this year's Trade Relations Conference," said Linda Doherty, NJFC President. "The chefs did an amazing job and their creations were both beautiful and delicious. We expect this filling and exciting competition to become an annual tradition."
Also competing were Chef Daniel Arturo and Sous Chef Rocco Tesorito of ShopRite of Greater Morristown, Village Food Garden; Chef Denny Siswanto and Sous Chef Preston France of Wegmans Food Market; and Chef Anthony DeBerto, Jr. and Kimberly Sullivan of Kings Food Market. Judging the competition were members of the 2016 Leadership Development Class, and Alfredo Varela, Executive Banquet Chef at Harrah's.
The New Jersey Food Council is the Garden State's preeminent trade association representing 1,200 retail food stores, wholesalers, manufacturing and service companies that collectively employ more than 200,000 associates in NJ.
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NJFC Set to Participate in 5th Annual
"From Farm to Fork"
Event at the Statehouse on June 2nd
The 5th Annual Farm to Fork Day will be held on Thursday, June 2nd at the State House in Trenton during a busy legislative day. We are looking forward to an eventful and productive day! We hope that members would consider donating a food product to the event so we can hand it out to legislative leaders and policy makers. This is a great opportunity for members to show off a product that they are debuting, or one that they are well known for. You can ship 200 items directly to us by Wednesday, May 25th or we can arrange to pick them up, whatever is convenient. Additionally, members are encouraged to join us and take the opportunity to network with legislators and policy makers who make decisions which impact our industry on a daily basis. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Kori Little-Buro by email at [email protected] or by phone at 609-392-8899.
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Save the Date:
Annual Golf Outing
July 18th at Suburban Golf Club
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NJFC Thanks our 2016 Sponsors!
Platinum Sponsors
| ACME Markets |
Bimbo Bakeries
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| Coca-Cola Refreshments USA |
Wakefern Food Corporation |
| Wegmans Food Markets |
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Gold Sponsors
| Allegiance Retail Services, LLC |
Cargill Salt, Inc. / Cargill Turkey
& Cooked Meats
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| Kraft Heinz Company |
Saker ShopRites |
| Stop & Shop Supermarkets |
Whole Foods Market |
Silver Sponsors
| Acosta Sales & Marketing |
CBA Industries |
| C&S Wholesale Grocers |
Inserra Supermarkets |
| Kings Food Markets |
Pepsi Beverages Company |
| Supervalu |
Village Supermarkets |
| Wawa, Inc. |
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Bronze Sponsors
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Advantage Solutions
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Chase |
| Crossmark |
Goya Foods |
| Lidestri Foods, Inc. |
Mission Foods |
| Mondelez International |
QuickChek Corporation |
| RoNetcoSupermarkets |
TD Bank |
| Zallie Supermarkets |
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Brass Sponsors
| McCaffrey's Markets |
Murphy's Markets of South Jersey |
| Pennington Quality Market |
Ravitz Family Markets |
| ShopRite of Hunterdon County |
ShopRite of Rochelle Park |
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Somerset Stores
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