Disruption is a good thing in technology because it is how we grow and evolve. The last significant disruption in Federal food distribution was the Agriculture Department’s final rule mandating that all states adopt EBT for the distribution of Woman, Infants and Children benefits. This occurred in 2016. It is also worth noting that the Rule incorporates provisions of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. HHFKA passed Congress 6 years prior to the Final Rule.

Prior to WIC EBT, the last significant disruption in EBT was the Congressional mandate that all state EBT systems be interoperable with each other. Congress issued this directive in 1999, 16 years after the dawn of EBT technology

The use of electronic benefits transfer for the distribution of government benefits dates back to 1983. EBT has been one of the most successful public-private partnerships in American government history. But it is clearly an industry that at times rests on its laurels.

In February of 2018 the Agriculture Department which manages the SNAP program, formerly known as the Food Stamp program, announced plans to convert a portion of each eligible household’s monthly benefit to what it dubbed a America’s Harvest Box pending the approval of Congress. The box would contain shelf-stable food staples.

The Harvest Box idea was previewed in President Trump’s 2019 budget message to Congress in February 2018. It is part of the Administration’s plan to cut federal SNAP spending by 200 billion dollars or 30 percent. 

Opposition to the plan was emotional, overwrought and largely along party lines.

In a statement Eloise Anderson, the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department on children and Families and Chair of the Secretaries’ Innovation Group comprised of 22 state human services and workforce leaders from 22 states covering 52 percent of the country, wrote that she likes the idea that the Harvest Box proposal helps assure that recipient families…have a ready supply of healthy and nutritious food.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, according to a published report, admitted that the Harvest Box idea surprised members of Congress but also said that Department staff had consulted with experts while formulating the concept. He also reportedly called the plan a work in progress as the Department starts taking public comment.

According to one report, Secretary Perdue is looking for Congressional permission to develop a Harvest Box pilot program.

3 Simple Steps for Crafting a Winning Pitch  for Government Business

Know Your Customer. In government sales, there are several parties you will have to deal with. They are the buyers who work for the procurement agency,  the program officials who will actually manage how your produce or service will be used, the government employees who will actually put your produce or service into play. In the government sales cycle, the buyers are the people you will have to negotiate with. They are the gatekeepers. Regardless of the merits of your offering, unless you please the buyer, you won’t get to the program official who will be responsible for the use of your offering. Once you are tendered a contract, the program manager will be responsible for the use of your offering. Screw up at this point and you’re out, Tom. The program officials rely for counsel on the field employees who will be responsible for the deployment of your offering.

Plan in Advance. Understand that a government customer can differ from a commercial customer. A commercial customer is answerable to the company’s shareholders. This is the dynamic that ultimately drives all decisions. A government customer answered ultimately to the taxpayers. So, government customers generally choose the “lowest, best offer” Understanding the differences between the two customers will allow you to battle plan a successful proposal to a government agency. Whatever you do, don’t try to get by on the cheap by recycling an old prop to a commercial customer. We serve both commercial and government customers. We know the differences and why a commercial proposal won’t work with a government prospect.

Tailor your proposal to a government prospect. Your prop should always focus on why your offering is the “lowest, best” offer in the solicitation. Understanding the differences between the commercial and government customers, make the proposal more about the government prospect and less about your company. Avoid chest-thumping praise of your own offering. Be aware of what your prospect’s issues are and in your proposal very concisely focus on how your offering solves those issues. Make the case by citing other government customers that have benefitted by your offering, if you have any.