Pamela Bailey, the chief executive of the Grocery Manufacturers Association for nearly a decade, announced she will retire later this year. Bailey said the GMA board “continues to engage in the reinvention process to build the association of the future,” so “it is best they do so in concert with their leader of the future.”
For years, GMA was the powerhouse among food industry lobbying groups, but its membership has fractured recently. Some of its members disagreed profoundly over labeling of foods made with GMO ingredients. Among companies leaving GMA are Campbell Soup, Nestle, Dean Foods, Mars, Tyson Foods, Unilever, Kraft and DowDuPont, according to Politico.
Food Industry News said companies departing GMA “have increasingly found themselves at odds with the association on several issues, including how to approach GMO labeling, the mandatory labeling of ‘added sugars’ and voluntary sodium reduction. More broadly, there were differences on how best to provide the transparency in food product ingredients and nutrition increasingly demanded by consumers.” Bailey said she would remain as GMA until her replacement is selected.