Which major supermarket chains have donated to Democratic candidates and how do donations compare to those for Trump?
Executive summary
Major supermarket chains and related food companies have been active political donors this cycle, with companies such as Albertsons and Kroger increasing PAC giving — Albertsons’ PAC gave about $291,500 so far and Kroger’s PAC about $141,000, according to Reuters’ tally of FEC data [1]. Industry-level tracking from OpenSecrets groups supermarkets under the Food Stores and Retail Sales categories for detailed donor breakdowns; however, available sources do not provide a single, complete list comparing every supermarket’s donations to contributions for former President Trump specifically [2] [3].
1. Grocery giants quietly boosting Democratic receipts — even amid criticism
Reuters’ analysis of Federal Election Commission data found that many big grocery companies have increased donations accepted by Democratic lawmakers this cycle, with Albertsons’ PAC running well ahead of its 2021–22 pace and Kroger’s PAC also increasing giving; both chains have given to Democrats who publicly criticized grocery practices [1]. That reporting underscores a pragmatic industry approach: companies often contribute across party lines depending on policy relevance, committee positions and where a company’s facilities sit [1].
2. Who’s in the “Food Stores” bucket and where to look for company-by-company totals
OpenSecrets groups national, regional and local supermarkets under its Food Stores industry profile and provides the granular contribution and lobbying history that reporters and researchers use to identify which chains support which candidates [2]. For broader retailer-level context, OpenSecrets’ Retail Sales industry page also compiles contributions and notes that many totals include PACs, employees and affiliated subsidiaries — so a single company figure can reflect many separate filers [3].
3. Examples and dollar figures cited in coverage
Specific figures Reuters flagged include Albertsons’ PAC contributing roughly $291,500 so far this cycle and Kroger’s PAC giving about $141,000 — up from $140,500 in the entire 2021–22 cycle — and individual CEO max contributions (reported at $6,600) to certain senators [1]. Reuters also noted that at least 154 Democratic lawmakers or their fundraising organizations accepted contributions from top food companies during the cycle it analyzed [1].
4. Party tilt: industry donations are mixed and have shifted over time
Historical and industry-wide reporting shows the food and grocery sector does not uniformly favor one party. Older industry snapshots found large shares going to Republicans in some trade groups, while other brand- or company-level analyses show meaningful Democratic support — and that overall donations can decline or shift depending on the cycle [4] [5]. Food Dive’s work on major food and beverage makers reports donations declined nearly evenly by party in one analysis, with Democrats receiving $1.8 million and Republicans $1.5 million among a set of companies studied [5].
5. Comparing supermarket donations to donations “for Trump” — the limits of the available data
The supplied sources do not present a straightforward, company-by-company comparison of supermarket giving that isolates donations explicitly to Donald Trump’s campaign versus donations to Democrats. Reuters and related outlets document PAC and corporate giving to Democratic lawmakers and note overall industry trends, but they don’t produce a single crosswalk showing how much each supermarket chain directed to Trump specifically in the 2024/2025 cycles [1] [2]. Snopes and Dispatch reporting caution that corporate “donations to Trump” claims are often misleading because corporate entities cannot give directly to federal candidates — what shows up in the data are PACs, executives, employees or parent-company totals, and those breakouts can vary [6] [7].
6. Misinformation risks and why headline claims can be false or incomplete
Fact-checkers and reporters emphasize nuance: a viral claim that lists companies “donated to Trump” can conflate employee/CEO donations, PAC activity, or parent-company totals and ignore donations to Democrats or neutral entities. Snopes flagged such lists as misleading because some firms’ donations were primarily to Democrats or mixed evenly, and because “companies” themselves do not directly donate to federal campaigns in the way social posts imply [6] [7]. That caveat matters when comparing supermarket support for Democrats versus Trump.
7. Takeaway and where to go next for a rigorous comparison
To produce a definitive, apples-to-apples comparison of “which major supermarket chains donated to Democratic candidates and how that compares to donations for Trump,” researchers should pull the raw FEC/OpenSecrets files for the specific companies or PACs (Food Stores and Retail Sales industry pages are a starting point) and separate PAC, corporate, executive and employee contributions by recipient [2] [3]. Current reporting documents increased giving to Democrats by chains such as Albertsons and Kroger [1] but does not supply a complete, per-chain tally isolating donations to Trump in the supplied sources [1] [2].
Limitations: This summary relies only on the provided Reuters, OpenSecrets, Food Dive and fact-checking excerpts; the sources contain company-level snapshots and industry group tallies but do not present a single, definitive table comparing each supermarket chain’s donations to Democratic candidates versus donations to Trump [1] [2] [5] [6].