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Wholesale food prices have been on the rise since October of 2009 and retail food prices have been rising since December of that year. Those retail increases, however, averaged 3.2 per- centage points less than increases seen at the wholesale level over the16 months prior to February, according to The Food Institute. “Retailers have been very reluctant to pass along all of the higher costs they have been facing to consumers,”Todd said. The Food Institute utilizes two gov- ernment reports in its analysis: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) which is a survey of products purchased at retail outlets in the U.S.; and the Producer Price Index which is a survey of food manufacturers. The Producer Price Index (PPI) is a family of indexes that measures the average change over time in selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. This contrasts with other measures, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), that measure price change from the pur- chaser’s perspective. New York c-store industry wins tobacco fee rollback The tobacco registration fee night- mare that has haunted New York convenience store operators for the past two years is over. In the new state budget being adopted this week by Governor Cuomo and the state legislature, the astronomical fee hike enacted in 2009 is being rolled back to a more modest level. The whopping increase would have taken the fee from $100 per store per year to either $1,000, $2,500 or $5,000, depending on total gross sales—a cynical ploy hatched by public health advocates to force 40 percent of the state’s tobacco retailers out of the tobacco trade. However, the New York Association of Convenience Stores and three other retail associations filed a legal challenge, obtaining a court order temporarily freezing the fee at $100 pending a final decision, www.npnweb.com NPN Magazine APRIL 2011 7 which is still being awaited. With so much at stake, NYACS and its allies felt that rather than risk losing the case, they should pursue the certainty of legislative action rolling back the fee. These nego- tiations produced an agreement to set the fee at $300 per store per year. The $300 fee is retroactive to 2010. That means stores that paid $100 for 2010 and $100 for 2011 will now owe the department $200 more for each of those two years. Then on Sept. 20 of this year, payment of the full $300 for calen- dar 2012 will be due. Thus, some stores will incur a one-time hit of $700 during 2011.But the alternative was a one-time whack of $2,800 to $14,800, depending on gross sales, if the court were to rein- state the higher fee schedule. “The $300-a-year compromise may not be the perfect solution, but it gives the majority of our retail members the chance to remain in the all-important tobacco category without paying a king’s ransom every year,” said NYACS President James Calvin. Retailers, who in September 2009 sent in their 2010 renewal application with the higher fee amount before the restraining order was issued, will receive a refund or credit from the state tax department for the excess amount. NYACS was joined in the lawsuit by the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association, the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops, and the United 7-Eleven franchise owners of Long Island and New York. INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS The Gorman-Rupp Co., Mansfield Division receives ISO 14001 certification The Gorman-Rupp Co. (Mansfield,