Fighting for Our Place on the Plate
Commodity Checkoff Program Performance
Allocation: 85 percent bakers: 15 percent millers
Assessment: combined baker and miller contributions to equal $0.16 per CWT of wheat flour to produce bread-basket products
- Bakers: $0.136 per CWT of flour
Millers: $0.024 per CWT of flour
Products subject to assessment: The Bread Basket
- Included: fresh and frozen sliced and unsliced bread, rolls, buns, bagels, naan, pitas, other flatbreads, English muffins, biscuits
- Excluded: tortillas, organic products, products sold in the frozen section of a grocery store, bars, crackers, or sweet goods
View the complete Wheat Flour Foods Promotion, Research, and Information Order here
Exemptions: Companies using or selling less than 750,000 CWT of wheat flour. To claim an exemption, Bakers and Millers must substantiate one of the following:
- The Baker annually purchases less than 750,000 CWT of wheat flour to produce bread-basket products;
- The Miller annually sells less than 750,000 CWT of wheat flour to produce bread-basket products; or
- The Miller is also exempt from assessment on that portion of wheat flour sold to an exempt baker, even if the miller would otherwise be subject to assessment on that wheat flour
Collection: Bakers are responsible for collecting the assessments from millers and remitting them to the Board along with their own assessments, or where millers sell wheat flour to co-packers, millers will remit directly to the Board upon receipt of an invoice issued by the Board.
What do we get?
Total annual budget of approximately $15 million
Accountability: A checkoff program and staff is accountable to a Board of Directors made up of the companies that fund the program. You are the governors of your dollars and program. Checkoff Boards are subject to USDA oversight and required to report an annual ROI analysis.
* Based on historical averages of existing programs AND based on studies commissioned by the Feasibility Steering Committee
- Rationale: A delayed referendum allows Industry to evaluate a program’s effectiveness before approving it.
Referendum Requirements: To pass, the following requirements must be met or exceeded:
- Approved by a majority of Millers subject to the Order (50 percent + 1)
- Approved by a majority of Bakers subject to the Order (50 percent + 1)
- Approved by Bakers representing a majority of wheat flour volume voting in the referendum
If approved, through the initial referendum, the Order is subject to a subsequent referendum every 7 years or at the request of the Board or 10% of companies subject to assessment.
Termination requires the following requirements are met or exceeded:
- Approved by a majority of Millers subject to the Order (50 percent + 1)
- Approved by a majority of Bakers subject to the Order (50 percent + 1)
- Approved by Bakers representing a majority of wheat flour volume voting in the referendum
