2015 Year in Review: Top Stories in Consumer Affairs and Health and Wellness

By: Kelli Windsor, Manager, Member and Digital Communications, Food Marketing Institute

FMI executed some exciting campaigns related to consumer affairs and health and wellness in 2015. As the champion for feeding families and enriching lives, FMI launched a national campaign that encouraged more mealtimes at home using items from the supermarket and also built complementary programming to demonstrate how the grocery store is a wellness destination. FMI continues to defend the reputation of the industry and serve as a spokesperson on industry issues.   

Top Consumer Affairs Blogs

Navigating the Supermarket Myth Maze

Ever been in a disagreement with a colleague and when presenting his views, he launches into a tired old hydra-headed argument filled with exaggerations and misrepresentations that you’ve heard, refuted and dismissed many times before?   I find it infuriating and I honestly don’t know which is more offensive -- the lack of originality being foisted upon me or being thrust once again into the internal debate of deciding whether to weigh in, and if so, which of the half-truths to tackle first, whether it will even make a difference to do so and wonderment at how such unfounded bias persists?  

How Are Grocery Stores Using Social Media?

In our series interviewing food retail social media managers we’ve gotten a better idea of the day-to-day operations of these brand managers and storytellers. We’ve also seen how social media is being used creatively by grocery stores.  But how are grocery stores using social media overall and what benefits, if any, are they seeing from it?

The Productivity of Nice

Baseball great Leo Durocher once quipped, “Nice guys finish last,” offering a cultural assessment that a concern for others, putting other’s needs first, and being pleasantly agreeable somehow inhibited the ability to really compete effectively.  His summation captured the business and athletic attitude that there’s no place for nice, if you want to succeed.  With all due respect to Mr. Durocher, I think he was wrong. 

Top Health and Wellness Blogs

7 Ways Food Retailers Are Raising Their Mitt for Family Meals

It’s been great to see all the excitement and energy around National Family Meals Month. With a few weeks left to celebrate, we wanted to share how some food retailers are encouraging families to join the family meals movement.

The “Better-for-You” Business Case: Four Buckets of Insights

The upcoming “Better-For-You” Business case study focuses on building the business case for healthier, lower-calorie foods by demonstrating the financial and marketing benefits from modifying marketing practices and product portfolios. Supermarkets have an advantage over restaurant and other sectors because of fresh produce and the perimeter of the stores, but are we capitalizing on this opportunity?

Supermarket devotion to health and wellness

For the third year, FMI has surveyed food retailers on how they are meeting the needs of shoppers who are seeking healthier lifestyles. FMI’s Retail Contributions to Health and Wellness demonstrates an exploration of health and wellness programs in the food retail setting. More than half (54%) of food retailers surveyed have established health and wellness programs for both customers and employees

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