这top food and beverage companies are opening their pocketbooks in a big way to strengthen and maintain their influence in Washington, D.C., as they fight to protect their businesses with billions of dollars in revenue at stake.
根据响应式政治中心向食品潜水中提供的数据，对2020年在游说中度过的30家食品和饮料公司的评论显示，在过去的六年中，他们的平均水平大致与他们的平均水平大致相同。
自2015年以来，每年都有针对游说的资金，可口可乐一直是最大的代价，而去年也不例外。去年，全球最大的非酒精饮料公司在24个游说者上花费了583万美元。虽然很大，但在过去六年中的平均值低于其704万美元。
“Lobbying is sort of like insurance in that you just do it. Because as the old adage goes, if you're not at the table, you might be on the menu.”
Clare Brock
美国政治与公共政策助理教授，德克萨斯女子大学
AB INBEV在2020年花费了第二大，561万美元在53位游说者上，而最近的平均价格为455万美元。虽然AB Inbev在2020年的花费少于可口可乐，并在相同数量的主题上游说，但它解决了许多类别中更具体的问题，例如税收，饮料行业和贸易 - 潜在的解释，说明为什么它使用了两次以上两倍以上和游说者一样。
零食和饮料制造商百事可乐（Pepsico）在24个游说者中排名第三，为369万美元，近年来平均为352万美元。数据显示，自2015年以来，接下来的10家公司的游说平均在100万至300万美元之间。
“Lobbying is sort of like insurance in that you just do it. Because as the old adage goes, if you're not at the table, you might be on the menu,” said Clare Brock, an assistant professor of American politics and public policy at Texas Woman's University.
公司每年花费数百万美元游说
尽管从2015年到2020年，最大的公司的平均支出基本上是持平的，但在同一时间，由10个最大的游说团体的资金却急剧下降。2015年，2190万美元的游说，随后在2019年和2020年降低了1500万美元以上。
与消费者品牌协会相比，大部分下降与急剧下降，该协会代表了负责制造各种产品组合在内的CPG公司，包括食品和饮料产品。去年，它花费了230万美元，而2015年为850万美元，当时它被称为杂货制造商协会。
这trade group attributed the reduction to an adoption of a "pro-consumer agenda" and the decision to focus on issues that unite the industry — as opposed to GMA’s focus on food-specific topics — that allow for a more efficient use of its dollars behind CEO Geoff Freeman.
Every issue is in play
这food and beverage industry's lobbying efforts encompass a wide swath of issues.
An analysis of topics lobbied on by the largest food and beverage companies found taxes and trade routinely rose to the top. In 2020, both of these issues ranked among the top two for seven of the top 10 companies, with the remaining three CPGs prioritizing at least one of them. Agriculture, transportation, the environment, federal budget/appropriations and labor/antitrust issues also have been priorities in recent years.
“他们游说的影响their business, no matter how remote,” said Marion Nestle, a former professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, who has researched lobbying in the soda industry. “I can't think of a single area of food or nutrition policy that isn't subjected to lobbying."
Trade groups spend substantial amounts on lobbying annually
Most of the food and beverage companies contacted by Food Dive, including Mondelēz International, Tyson Foods, PepsiCo and AB InBev, either declined to discuss their lobbying efforts or pointed to their industry trade group.
可口可乐指示有关其对网站的贡献的询问, where it notes that lobbying is a way for companies to ensure that their views get heard, or at least considered. "The list of things we focus on day-to-day is practically endless given the size and scope of our business," Coca-Cola said.
尽管如此，世界上最大的非酒精饮料制造商指出，其与决策者的大部分讨论都涉及环境政策，健康和保健以及税收 - 后者是该公司至少从2015年起大多数人游说的问题。可口可乐陷入多年税纠纷中with the U.S. government over how it reports income from some overseas markets that potentially could cost the soda maker billions of dollars if it doesn't prevail.
General Mills, the Minneapolis-based maker of Cheerios, Nature Valley bars and Progresso soup, said the company has "a long history of engagement in public policy" with regards to "core business concerns" like trade and taxes as well as sustainability, nutrition and food safety, among other issues.
通用磨坊政府关系副总裁李·安德森（Lee Anderson）在一封电子邮件中说：“参与公共政策制定过程可以保护我们制造世界所爱的食物的能力。”他补充说：“我们的工作是将该公司的专业知识带给那些官员，以帮助他们做出明智的决定。”
A spokesperson with General Mills pointed to the company's support for the Food Safety Modernization Act and regenerative agriculture as issues where it is actively engaged with lawmakers.
Lobbying behind the scenes
批评家认为，游说不公平地使大型公司受益，这些公司的深厚口袋和联系使他们特别接触了立法者，监管机构和其他有影响力的官员。
这些联系创造了宝贵的关系，并使公司更有可能采取辩护来撤销潜在的立法。例如，他们可能会争辩说，拟议的法案将导致国会地区的失业或增加税收可能会迫使企业搬家。
雀巢说：“任何具有相反观点或不同观点的人都没有相同的访问权限。”“有很多证据表明，公司有数十个游说者，他们每年都会拜访每位国会代表，也许不止一次，具体取决于所考虑的事情，他们真的很擅长于他们的工作。”
批评家长期以来一直认为，游说者经常在影响监管机构或部门制定的主要政策的结果方面发挥重要作用，或者通过在国会山上的立法者对立法进行考虑，通常是幕后的。
A 2015 New York Times article通过公开记录获得的梳理电子邮件，以显示孟山都和其他公司如何招募学术研究人员来帮助促进其案件。当时的参议院议员正准备采取行业支持的立法这将禁止各州采用法律，要求披露用转基因成分生产的食物。
这许多大型食品和贝弗格制造商提出的游说工作at the time ultimately fell short. A year later, President Barack Obama signed legislation requiring companies to notify consumers about detectable GMO ingredients in their products. The legislation also overruled any state laws regarding GMO labeling.
其他调查政府监督项目这是一名无党派的独立监督机构，调查并暴露了浪费，腐败和滥用权力的报道，三年前，特朗普政府选拔的前零食食品和玉米糖浆游说者在美国农业部设定食品政策是与她的前任联系主要和广泛营养政策的雇主。
Pogo通过一项信息自由法获得的电子邮件还显示，游说者为联邦钠咨询委员会提出了潜在成员的名字，为当时的农业部长桑尼·珀杜（Sonny Perdue）提出了谈话要点，并寻求有关代理政策决策的情报。
Brock, who conducts research on food politics, said lobbying is even more important today with the polarization in Congress and a greater stronghold by leadershipover the pathway forward for any potential legislation.这sheer volume of issues lobbyists need to focus on, coupled with these mounting political challenges, increases the amount of work they need to do to make sure their clients' interests are represented.
“Lobbying is becoming more important, more expensive and more difficult because the political process is becoming slower and more contentious and gridlocked," Brock said.
Beyond the dollars and cents
如今的大部分游说集中在最重要的问题上。但是，可以说，该过程同样重要的部分是与国会或监管机构发生的事情保持一致，同时维持和建立关系最终发生的事情。
布罗克说：“您正试图在法规面前走出去，被视为关心[一个问题的公司。”“有很多钱的危险，当监管通过时，他们会说，'实际上，我们在通过这项立法的最前沿。我们主张这项立法。我们想要这一点。”“
“他们游说的影响their business, no matter how remote. I can't think of a single area of food or nutrition policy that isn't subjected to lobbying."
Marion Nestle
纽约大学营养，食品研究与公共卫生前教授
Those who follow food companies' impact on the political process point out that their influence goes beyond the Open Secrets data. They argue the information provided by the nonprofit, while valuable, is just one small part of the broader picture.
公司定期向代表他们工作的贸易集团或非营利组织捐款。他们的首席执行官和高级管理人员正在打电话或举行会议，在某些情况下，有疑问，特定的聚会是否实际上是游说。同时，游说者经常从国会，联邦贸易委员会，FDA或USDA过渡代表公司或贸易集团工作，并带来了他们的紧密联系和见解。
“There's a lot more facets to how corporations influence politics than you can capture just through data like this," said Max Moran, research director for the revolving door project at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington, D.C., think tank specializing in economic policy. "It's a very good way of helping to shine a light on some things, but there are also vast parts of the of the system, which are sort of hidden from view.”
公司每年继续花费大量资金，因为以后的净支付可能是巨大的。
Moran said lobbying helps businesses not only kill or respond to legislation, but it also could also save them billions of dollars if they are able to save a potential acquisition under antitrust scrutiny or thwart a threatened breakup of their business. The Center for Economic and Policy Research pointed to lobbying's influence in allowing Bayer's purchase of Monsanto, the approval of Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods and getting antitrust precedents overturned in the 1980s to allow more meatpacking mergers.
莫兰说：“这是所有类型的游说公司所花费的巨额资金 - 本身是不正当的 - 但他们花了这笔钱，因为它起作用了。”“他们为此获得了令人难以置信的投资回报。”
Mike Gruber, vice president of regulatory and government affairs at the CBA, agreed lobbying is expensive and time consuming, with much of his team's hours spent discussing policy with state and congressional officials. The trade group also devotes significant amounts of time conversing with subject matter experts at many of its more than 70 member companies, which may disagree on an issue, or on which matters to prioritize.
“我确实认为[游说]值得。这很重要。它回到您想要明智的政策吗？”格鲁伯说。“要有一个值得的想法成为一个非常糟糕的政策，这并不需要太多。”
代表最大啤酒公司的啤酒研究所媒体关系总监亚历克斯·戴维森（Alex Davidson）表示，其游说工作通常专注于向立法者强调该行业对美国经济的影响以及税收和铝关税等问题的影响成员。
With 2 million people across multiple industries — from farmers who grow the ingredients to those who brew and transport the finished product — having ties to beer in some way, he said the trade group has a multiple ways it can point to the impact beer has in the U.S. economy.
Lobbying in Congress played a big part in降低啤酒的联邦消费税four years ago,Davidson said, and now the Beer Institute is working vigorously to make sure the reduced levels remain in place.
但是，即使影响该行业的主题不在国会立法议程的最前沿，啤酒研究所也在花费时间建立和维持联系，并教育立法者及其员工 - 这项任务使公众对饮料和饮料的亲和力更加轻松事实，几乎每个地区都有与行业相关的啤酒厂或工作。
“The first time you go to someone, you shouldn't be asking for something. You need to make relationships and build relationships and cultivate relationships," Davidson said. "A lot of our job is making sure that people understand the economic impact of [our industry] in the United States."
前纽约大学教授雀巢说游说has long been ingrained in the fabric of the United States since its founding when the practice was referenced byAlexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay in the Federalist Papers. Nearly 250 years later, Nestle said lobbying is a "normal course of doing business" and an effective one for large mult-national CPGs that is unlikely to abate anytime soon.
雀巢说：“食品公司不是社会服务机构或公共卫生机构。它们是像其他任何业务一样的企业，它们的运营方式完全相同。”“他们竭尽所能最大程度地利用销售和利润，因为他们有股东需要取悦。”
