"The SNAP funding freeze will be a big effect on our business because maybe half of my customers they have it. So if they don't have it, the business goes down," explained Salameh.
The US Department of Agriculture, citing the ongoing government shutdown, announced it will not provide funding for SNAP starting Saturday, November 1st. While money still on EBT cards can still be used after that date, businesses are anticipating a drop in sales.
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"If you're facing the loss of 10, 15, 20% of your revenue just because of the SNAP funding is gone, that's really hard to make up for. I think you could see the longer this goes, other cost-cutting measures to make up for it," explained Michael Negron, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, who formerly served as the special assistant to the president for economic policy in the Biden administration.
Nationally, about 12% of revenue at grocery stores comes from SNAP.
"About a quarter of Walmart revenue comes from SNAP beneficiaries. In some communities, particularly low-income communities, some retailers could be getting about as much as half of their revenue from SNAP beneficiaries, so the lapse in funding for SNAP is really a significant headwind for those businesses that serve those populations," Negron noted.
A report from NCDHHS found 1.4 million North Carolinians rely on SNAP, noting every $1 invested in SNAP benefits generates between $1.50 and $1.80 for local economies.
"Everybody kept asking, do you have EBT? So that's the reason why we decided to go up on accepting it," explained Bashir Seidi, co-owner of Arabian Delights Market in Raleigh.
Seidi said about 30-40% of their customers utilize SNAP.
"We know the demographic in the area is a lot of senior citizens, a lot of families," Seidi explained.
While he believes they can withstand a short-term dip in sales, Seidi acknowledged the potential domino effect should this last for an extended period.
"You're talking about farmers. They're going to hurt because I'm not going to buy meat from a slaughterhouse as much," Seidi noted.
Businesses also have limited options in making up for the potential loss of business, especially without knowing how long it may last.
"You try to buy in volume so you could save (money)," Seidi explained, noting the challenge in scaling back purchases.
"I think it's going to be hard for retailers to try to make up for that with cost increases. You're not going to have enough of a consumer base left to make up for it, and that's something that many retailers have been starting to do with respect to tariffs," said Negron.
A report from the Food Research & Action Center found that 9,272 retailers in North Carolina redeemed $3,974,844,947 in SNAP benefits in 2023.
"It's actually a really significant part of farmers' market income. Some of our records show that 20% of sales at North Carolina farmers' markets are coming from SNAP/EBT," said Sydney Blume, Board Chair of the North Carolina Farmers Market Network.
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