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WIC New Stores
On this page:
What is the WIC Program?
Who is eligible to apply to become a vendor?
How do I apply to become a vendor in the WIC Program?
What requirements do I have to meet to be a WIC vendor?
What training will be provided to me?
How long will it take for my store to be authorized for the WIC Program?
How long will I be authorized for the WIC Program?
What information about WIC Vendors is public?
What is the WIC Program?
The WIC program provides nutrition education, breastfeeding support, health referrals, and nutritious supplemental foods to its participants. The WIC Program helps promote healthy eating practices and good health care during critical times of growth and development in order to prevent the occurrence of health problems and to improve the health status of its participants.
The WIC Program's official name is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. It is administered at the federal level by the United States Department of Agriculture, and in Minnesota by the Minnesota Department of Health. It is governed by federal laws, regulations and policies, and state laws, rules, and procedures.
Who is eligible to apply to become a vendor?
The Minnesota WIC Program accepts applications from large and small grocery stores and pharmacies throughout Minnesota.
How do I apply to become a vendor in the WIC Program?
Apply for WIC Vendor Authorization on behalf of your store by using our online application:
WIC Retail Food Vendor Authorization Application
If you cannot access the online application, please call 651-201-4404 or email health.wicvendor@state.mn.us.
Please review the requirements listed in the next section prior to submitting your application.
The application will take about 15-30 minutes to complete. You will need to provide information about the business and the business’ owners, including the following:
- Federal Tax ID Number
- Estimated Square Footage
- Number of cash registers
- Annual Food Sales (or an estimate if the store has been open for less than one year.)
- Criminal history for manager, owner, and corporate officers(if applicable)
- SNAP Authorization Number or SNAP Application Number
- Ownership Type
- Contact and identifying information for Manager, Owners, Corporate Officers, and Shareholders
- Wholesaler information for groceries, dairy products, and infant formula
- Copies of your Minnesota Retail Food Handler’s License and your city or county grocer’s license, if your city or county issues those licenses.
- Valid, monitored email addresses of the WIC Contact and other applicants
- If applying for WIC authorization under new ownership, you’ll also need:
- The expected date of sale
- The name and contact information for a person responsible for day-to-day WIC operations and cashier training, who is employed under the current ownership and will also be employed under the new ownership.
If you start to fill out your application and need to exit before submitting it, you can save your progress and begin where you left off. You will need to save the code provided when you select “Save & Exit.”
When your application has been submitted, you will receive a confirmation email.
What requirements do I have to meet to be a WIC vendor?
Before we can consider an application from your store, you must be approved for SNAP. In addition, there are several other requirements for our vendors.
WIC Vendor Program Requirements List (PDF)
What training will be provided to me?
All new vendor applicants must complete an online training module and pass a quiz. This training must be completed by a “controlling person” of your store; someone who will take responsibility for training the store cashiers. More than one person from a business may complete this training module. If you would like to have the training interpreted into another language, please make this request at the time you are invited to complete the training.
Once you have completed the training module and quiz, a WIC staff person will visit your store or pharmacy to determine if it meets WIC program requirements. He or she will provide additional training specific to your store.
The WIC Program also provides regular newsletters and other forms of written training to its vendors throughout the year. Federal regulations governing the WIC Program also require that all stores receive interactive training at least once every three years. We usually accomplish this interactive training through online modules and group training sessions held as needed throughout the state.
How long will it take for my store to be authorized for the WIC Program?
The WIC Program must notify you of the approval or disapproval of your business within four months of the date your complete application is received by the WIC Program. It is important to check the email address(es) provided in your application so you do not miss important updates or tasks that are required to move your application to the next step.
If your store or pharmacy is approved, you will be sent an agreement (a contract) that will spell out the terms of your authorization. A WIC Vendor Agreement never exceeds three years in length, and all agreements in the state end on the same date. At this time, the ending date of all vendor agreements is March 31, 2023. Several months before the ending date of its current agreement, a store will be provided information on applying for reauthorization.
Authorization is terminated if a store closes, is sold, or is terminated because of a violation of the WIC Program or SNAP Program.
What information about WIC Vendors is public?
Confidentiality Notice
The only information about WIC vendors that is public is the vendor’s name, address, telephone number, website/e-mail address, store type, and authorization status. All other information is confidential, including all other information that you submit on your store’s vendor authorization application and all other information the Department of Health collects about your store in the course of administering the WIC Program. Providing this confidential information is voluntary; however, if you do not provide the information, your store may not be authorized to accept WIC vouchers. The information you provide will be used to determine whether your store is eligible to participate as a vendor in the WIC Program, and will be used to administer your store’s participation in the WIC Program. The only persons who will have access to the confidential information you submit are:
(1) persons directly connected with the administration or enforcement of the WIC Program or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), if the Department of Health determines that these persons have a need to know the information for purposes of the WIC or SNAP. These persons may include personnel from WIC local agencies, personnel from other states’ WIC state and local agencies, and persons investigating or prosecuting WIC or SNAP violations under federal, state, or local law;
(2) persons directly connected with the administration or enforcement of any federal or state law or local law or ordinance. Before releasing the information to one of these persons (other than a federal agency), the Department of Health must have a written agreement in place with the requestor, specifying that the information would only be used or re-disclosed for purposes directly connected to the administration or enforcement of a federal or state law or local law or ordinance;
(3) a vendor that is subject to an adverse action, including a claim for reimbursement, to the extent that the confidential information concerns the vendor subject to the adverse action and is related to the adverse action;
(4) the United States Department of Agriculture; and
(5) the Comptroller General of the United States.