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Giant Eagle can't milk sales for fuelperks! discount program
As a result, Giant Eagle customers no longer can fill their gas tanks by filling themselves with milk. That's because Giant Eagle will not credit milk purchases toward discounts at its GetGo gas stations as part of the popular fuelperks! program, beginning Saturday.
"The Pennsylvania Milk Board believes that there are certain situations where the offering of fuelperks! on the sale of regulated milk products may place the price of regulated milk below state minimum pricing. Giant Eagle has agreed to comply with the Milk Board's request to prevent this possibility from ever occurring," said Dan Donovan, a Giant Eagle spokesman.
Introduced in 2004, fuelperks! gives consumers a 10-cent-per-gallon discount off gasoline at its GetGo stations for every $50 spent at Giant Eagle grocery and convenience stores.
Douglas Eberly, general counsel for the milk board, ruled the Giant Eagle program violated a 1930s law that prohibits discounts for milk. The board sets a floor for milk prices in Pennsylvania, a practice long criticized by consumers but hailed by the dairy industry.
"It was a close call, so to speak, but technically speaking someone could buy enough milk to qualify for the fuel perks! discount," Eberly said yesterday. "At some point, a person could buy enough milk to earn enough of a discount that Giant Eagle would be selling gasoline below what they are paying for it."
A Cumberland County supermarket offers a similar discount gasoline program, but excludes milk from the discounted products. Eberly said the milk board was inundated with complaints about Giant Eagle's program.
Products excluded from the fuelperks! are all milks, sour cream, half 'n half, whipping cream and heavy cream. Milk purchases made before Saturday will be credited to a customer's fuelperks! fuel discounts.
This is not the first time Giant Eagle's fuelperks! program has raised eyebrows. A year ago, the Petroleum Retailers & Auto Repair Association in Pittsburgh lost a bid to shut down the program. The state Attorney General's office rejected contentions that fuelperks! violated the state's Unfair Sales Act.
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