In a unanimous 8-0 vote Monday the San Diego City Council passed an ordinance banning grocery stores from offering digital-only deals in the city, the first of its kind in the nation.
The Grocery Pricing Transparency Ordinance was put forth last October by District 9 Council member Sean Elo-Rivera in an effort to address the digital divide in grocery savings. As grocery stores offer deals exclusively through apps or online, the ordinance’s goal is to allow those without a cell phone or the ability to navigate the internet, access to the same deals as others.
While Council President Joe LaCava said that the ordinance would impact a host of consumers besides the elderly, as many pointed toward the positive impact this could have on senior citizens’ grocery bills.
Fred Davis, a volunteer with Serving Seniors, attended the meeting alongside a few other seniors and said he has found digital coupons unreliable when trying to use them himself.
“Look I volunteer in a cyber cafe. I know how to access [the internet] but what’s really frustrating is when someone who actually knows how to do that, can’t. And then again, to add to the frustration, the cashier can’t help,” Davis said. “And you might not think saving $1 is a big deal, but you try and live on a set income which is well below federal poverty line and you’re trying to save the dollars.”
According to Jeffery Nguyen from Elo-Rivera’s office, 53,000 households in San Diego lack internet access, inhibiting the ability of many San Diegans to receive discounts.
Tim James, the California Grocers Association‘s director of local government relations and enterprise risk, voiced his opposition to the ordinance on behalf of local grocery chains, which he said were not notified of the regulation nor consulted on it.
He said while grocery stores share the goal of expanding access to coupons, this policy is not the way.
“The real purpose of coupons for the food industry is to introduce individuals to new products, whatever they may be, as well as also reward them for the previous shopping experience,” James said. “Very rarely are coupons intended to reduce consumers’ costs.”
Instead of matching digital coupons to be available in-store, James said, the easiest thing for the industry to do would be to scale back on coupons altogether.
“You risk some very serious unintended consequences.”
Another speaker who asked the council to hold off was Justine Murray, executive director of public affairs for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
While Murray said, in theory, this seems like a great idea for senior citizens and those looking to save extra money at the grocery store, she added her concern that it is important to include the businesses that will be impacted within the discussion and urged the council to do so going forward.
A majority of those who spoke during public comment spoke in favor of the ordinance.
Francine Maxwell, former NAACP president of the San Diego chapter, called in to voice her support for the vote. She said this measure would also benefit the unhoused community, which she has noticed during volunteer efforts cannot access coupons due to outdated cell phones.
Amidst concerns surrounding benefits for senior citizens from the federal government, Paul Downey, the president and CEO of Serving Seniors, said policy that works to cut costs for seniors may be more crucial considering what may be to come.
“The elder index, which is prepared by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, tells us that two in five seniors in San Diego already does not have enough money for food, health care, utilities, rent, things like that,” said Downey.
“And among seniors, there is a growing fear because of what is happening in Washington, DC. We have tariffs, trade wars, threats to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and that will make the financial suffering even greater. So accessing every possible discount is not just something that is nice. It is critical to ensuring that seniors have enough money to get by and not end up becoming unsheltered.”
In the end, the council voted to approve the ordinance, with an amendment put forth by council member Marni von Wilpert that grocers have 90 days to comply with the new regulations. Before then, the ordinance must go through a second reading that will take place in April.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
