ARLINGTON, VA — September 19, 2011 — Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has selected Joe McKie for the position of Vice President, Private Brands, after an extensive search for this unique, leadership role. McKie will identify, manage and build relationships with key industry stakeholders and future partners in order to cooperatively create value for the private brands trading partner community.

Among his accomplishments over the last 25 years in brand development, McKie comes to FMI most recently from Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. where he was vice president of Own Brands for the entire Winn-Dixie Corporation. Prior to his tenure at Winn-Dixie, he spent 15 years at Daymon Worldwide Inc. McKie’s areas of expertise include sales, retail operations, marketing, manufacturing, procurement, logistics, brand management and consumer insights. His first public introduction to industry and members will be at the FMI Private Brands Summit, Sept. 26-29 in Chicago.

“Joe brings a wealth of industry knowledge and general management expertise in the area of private brands,” Patrick Walsh, senior vice president of industry affairs for the association, said. “His energies will be of great value to FMI and our membership as we aggressively expand our membership base and value-generation efforts.”

McKie’s successes are well recognized, as he earned new product innovation awards from Private Label Manufacturers Association, Supermarket News, Good Housekeeping, Store Brand Decisions and PL Buyer. He was also named as PL Buyer Executive of the Year by suppliers in 2009 and serves at various levels of industry and community involvement, including, FMI Private Brands Executive Board (finance); PLMA Retailer Advisory Council; Store Brands Decisions Advisory Group; and Progressive Grocers’ Private Brand Editorial Board.