Consumer Brands Association
We champion growth and innovation for the industry whose products consumers depend on every day.www.consumerbrandsassociation.org
13
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Search complete. 13 mentions across 9 episodes found for "Consumer Brands Association".
Nov 4, 2026
David CorrellHOST
I'm very excited about our guest for this episode.
David CorrellHOST
It's Mr. Tom Madrecki from the Consumer Brands Association.
David CorrellHOST
I'll just give a brief bio, but then, Tom, you can, I'm sure, give a better one.
David CorrellHOST
You know, you and I have known each other through a lot of different roles, and I've just always known you to be a really thoughtful and intelligent thinker on supply chain and logistics issues, and maybe especially around how policy interacts with those issues.
David CorrellHOST
So, you know, Tom works for the Consumer Brands Association, where he serves as Senior VP for Public Affairs.
David CorrellHOST
Tom, could you kind of help our audience understand the angle you're bringing to a conversation like this one about freight, logistics, and supply chain?
Tom MadreckiGUEST
Yeah, absolutely.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
Basically, this is what I learned from Gary, and he spoke about his own experience in this moment in history.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
But in 2007, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, instead of the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, lobbied the FDA to change the definition of chocolate to include chocolates made with vegetable oils.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
And Hershey was very supportive of that for obvious reasons.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
It's cheaper, everything we've just talked about.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
We're not going to change it.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
We're just going to, like, keep chocolate the way it has been.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
And then there were some subterfuge, and it's not quite clear exactly what happened, but they used the—under the name of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and they then lobbied the FDA instead of— Interesting.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
Interesting.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
Basically, this is what I learned from Gary, and he spoke about his own experience in this moment in history.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
But in 2007, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, instead of the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, lobbied the FDA to change the definition of chocolate to include chocolates made with vegetable oils.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
And Hershey was very supportive of that for obvious reasons.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
It's cheaper, everything we've just talked about.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
We're not going to change it.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
We're just going to, like, keep chocolate the way it has been.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
And then there were some subterfuge, and it's not quite clear exactly what happened, but they used the—under the name of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and they then lobbied the FDA instead of— Interesting.
Rachel HandlerGUEST
Interesting.
JoshuaHOST
Okay, so here's the company side, right? The way their own trade group makes their side.
JoshuaHOST
The Consumer Brands Association speaks for the people who make the boxes.
JoshuaHOST
So when Senator Bob Casey put up a bill against this in 2024, that association's president, David Chavern, said the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, already has the authority to go after deceptive practices and that companies are transparent about both price and size.
JoshuaHOST
On the package itself, he has a point.
16 MINS LATER
JoshuaHOST
The FTC, right, the agency that's supposed to have the authority never defined it as deceptive, right? So the GAO actually said so in that report that we've been quoting anyway.
JoshuaHOST
Meanwhile, the people who make the boxes pay for a seat at the table.
JoshuaHOST
A Watchdog report in 2021 counted about $60 million in lobbying by the Consumer Brands Association since 2008, which made it one of the biggest spenders in food.
JoshuaHOST
The one thing that
Michelle PerroGUEST
poured into the state from industry.
Michelle PerroGUEST
It was called the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
Michelle PerroGUEST
And every industry donated big money, including Abbott, the makers of Similac.
Michelle PerroGUEST
That's infant formula.
Sean FoleyGUEST
I was in Old Scottsdale with... at one of the largest automotive industry meetings.
Sean FoleyGUEST
And then last, I just got back from San Diego doing an outing for the Consumer Brands Association doing a speech on leadership in adverse times.
Sean FoleyGUEST
Oh, wow.
Sean FoleyGUEST
Look, they all golf, right? They all golf.
David LatGUEST
Uh, you know, I know that you ask this question.
David LatGUEST
I hadn't really given much thought to this, but I also do some speaking, and earlier this year I spoke to the Consumer Brands Association, and my interlocutor for this fireside chat said, "Well, what music do you want played when you come to the stage?" And I thought, "Oh, goodness, I hadn't thought of that." And he gave a great suggestion, which has now become my pump-up song, which I'm embarrassed to say, I guess, this is from K-pop Demon Hunters, which I have not seen, although Zach has taken our oldest son to see it.
David LatGUEST
It's a song called Golden by, uh, Huntress, and it's a very sort of upbeat, kind of get the juices flowing kind of song, so that's what I would say, Golden.
Zach ShemtobGUEST
I thought K-pop, the, the, the, the film itself I thought was quite good.
Tony RuggieroHOST
Yeah
Sean FoleyGUEST
... and then last, uh, I was just got back from San Diego doing a outing for, uh, the Consumer Brands Association doing a speech on leadership in adverse times.
Sean FoleyGUEST
So-
Tony RuggieroHOST
Oh, wow.
NishantHOST
The result is something close to chaos.
NishantHOST
According to the Consumer Brands Association, there are more than fifty different date label phrases used on food packaging in the US.
NishantHOST
For example, tell me if you've seen any of these: sell by, use by, best by, best if used by, enjoy by, fresh until, or use or freeze by, and then finally, expires on.
NishantHOST
There's actually dozens more too, and almost none of them mean what people actually think that they mean.