SBA Launches 90% Loan Guarantee for Food Supply Chain Small Businesses

SBA announced a 90% loan guarantee for small businesses in the food supply chain to boost domestic food production and reduce grocery costs.

SBA Launches 90% Loan Guarantee for Food Supply Chain Small Businesses SBA announced a 90% loan guarantee for small businesses in the food supply chain to boost domestic food production and reduce grocery costs. Aaron Rafferty March 28, 2026 Key Takeaways: The SBA announced a 90% loan guarantee program for small businesses across the food supply chain, from farms to logistics to retail, to boost domestic food production. The program aims to reduce grocery costs by increasing the capacity and resilience of small agriculture and food distribution businesses. The announcement came the same week the White House hosted farmers on the South Lawn and launched an agriculture benefits tracker at OnlyFarms.gov . The Small Business Administration announced a 90% loan guarantee for small businesses in the food supply chain on March 27. The program covers farms, food processors, logistics companies, and retailers working to increase domestic food production and reduce grocery prices. A 90% guarantee means the federal government covers 90 cents of every dollar if a borrower defaults. For lenders, that removes most of the risk from lending to small food businesses, many of which operate on thin margins and would not qualify for conventional financing. For the businesses, it means access to capital that was previously unavailable. The program is aimed at a structural problem. Groceries are nearly 30% more expensive than they were pre-pandemic. Small farms and food distributors have been squeezed between rising input costs and retailer pricing pressure. The SBA is positioning the guarantee as a way to increase supply-side capacity, more small producers growing and distributing food, rather than a demand-side subsidy. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler framed the initiative as supporting t