The department, under any program established pursuant to this article, shall authorize retail food vendors, by written agreement, to accept nutrition coupons and reimbursement according to the system developed by the department. The department shall authorize an appropriate number and distribution of food vendors in order to ensure adequate participant convenience and access and to ensure that state or local officials can effectively manage review of authorized food vendors in their jurisdictions. The department shall establish criteria to limit the number of retail food vendors with which the department enters into agreements. The criteria, at a minimum, shall include:

charges for foods in relation to other vendors in its peer group. For purposes of this subdivision, “peer group” means a group of vendors with similar characteristics that may include, but shall not be limited to, any or all of the following:

characteristics established by the department.