Voice of Food Retail Blog

Food Retail Supply Chain Trends That Are Here to Stay

I recently discussed the food retail supply chain with a group of industry professionals who eat, breath and live it every day. During GS1 Connect, hosted by GS1 US, I presented on a panel discussion along with John Phillips, PepsiCo, Inc. and Chris ...

The Path to Frictionless Checkout

Three grocers start talking about their customer checkout experience. One only offers traditional checkout with store associates. Another is starting to introduce self-checkout. The last grocer has fully integrated self-checkout and is interested in ...

Building The Supply Chain of Tomorrow At Groceryshop

Although customer-facing technologies often grab the limelight, some of the most impactful technology shifts are those increasing the speed, efficiency and transparency with which products move through the supply chain. These technologies will build ...

How Many Grocery Stores Did You Shop at Last Month?

This year’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report found that the average shopper visits 4.4 different retail banners in a typical month, up from 4.1 last year. While shoppers do spend a significant share of their food dollars at their primary store, ...

Are You Ready for Barry?

As we collaborate on this post, the current storm in the Gulf of Mexico has just been deemed Tropical Storm Barry by the National Weather Service. That classification may change, and the potential impact of the storm is shifting rapidly; however, we ...

Five Trends from the Fancy Food Show

Walking the aisles at the Summer Fancy Food Show, where FMI had a booth showcasing the SQF Food Safety Program and FMI Emerge for companies growing their grocery shelf presence, we picked up on five key trends to share with food retailers and FMI ...

Millennial vs Gen Z: 2019 Grocery Shopping Habits

As an older Millennial sibling, I could share a million examples that demonstrate how I differ from my younger Gen Z brother. I like calendar appointments; he prefers his days to be unplanned. I tend to be tidy; my brother lives with a mountain of ...

Physical Store Changes Meet Omnichannel Opportunities

According to FMI’s 2019 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report, 43% of shoppers now report buying groceries online at least once in the past year. With this in mind, food retailers need to understand how the physical store changes will set them up for ...

Why Collaboration Matters in Addressing Supply Chain Transportation Issues

At June’s TPA Transportation Summit, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Raymond Martinez acknowledged that our audience of logistics and transportation experts “fuel and feed the economy.” Administrator Martinez ...

Proclaiming Family Meals Month in Every State: A College Student’s Perspective

State resolutions/proclamations are an excellent way to support the National Family Meals Month™ programs that are being implemented by the retailers and suppliers across the country....

‘Tis the Season: How Food Marketers Can Leverage In-Season, Locally-Grown Produce to Entice and Educate Shoppers

Now that growing and harvesting season is in full swing across most of the country, the time is ripe to leverage fruits and vegetables sourced from nearby farms and orchards outside of perennial growing areas like California, Arizona and Florida. ...

Are You In or Out: Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement?

In addition to our regulatory and legislative work, FMI has been monitoring and reporting on an antitrust case filed fourteen years ago by a number of retailers against Visa and MasterCard and the largest issuing ...

Photo Friday: Zabar’s in Manhattan

Recently, with Stanley Zabar and Scott Goldshine as our hosts, 35 FMI guests were welcomed by Zabar’s for a store tour. Everyone loved seeing the famous neighborhood spot where you can buy eggs, a Kitchen Aid, a bagel, an Instapot, coffee and exotic ...

Congress Weighs In As DIR Fees Threaten Supermarket Pharmacies

FMI united with a diverse coalition of pharmacy groups to continue urging the Trump Administration, while also lauding the recent, bipartisan emphasis by Congress on closing the loophole that inflates drug costs for patients and Medicare, and ...

Over Time, What Brings Grocery Shoppers To The Store?

Come with me on a journey through a time machine to consider the attributes that attract customers to a particular grocery store. When FMI first explored this topic in the 1982 Trends research, at that time called Trends: Consumer Attitudes and the ...