Voice of Food Retail Blog

Putting Our Money Where Our Meal Is

The expression “put your money where your mouth is” first appeared in America in the 1930s or 1940s. The idea behind this idiom is that while it's easy to talk about doing something, it's much harder to actually take action. When it comes to ...

Life on the Verge of a Meltdown – Personalizing Shopping with a Toddler

Grocery shopping with a toddler is like shopping with a ticking time bomb. You have a finite amount of time to get your shopping completed before the inevitable meltdown ...

Technology Leaders Gathering at Groceryshop

As robotics is becoming more commonplace in grocery stores and warehouses. I’m excited we will continue great dialogue and interactions with FMI’s participation in the second annual Groceryshop conference, taking place next month, from September 15-...

“Safe Recipe Style Guide” Reaches Costa Rica

Auto Mercado, a grocery chain in Costa Rica, began using the Safe Recipe Style Guide in its stores. Auto Mercado worked with its nutrition and marketing team to include the Safe Recipe Style Guidemessages in store recipes and translated the ...

How Two Millennials Personalize Health and Well-Being

Any internet search for "healthy" will show there is no one size, fits-all approach. As a 24-year old type-1 diabetic, I need to take good care of my health, especially through my diet. My husband, Nick, still has a young person's metabolism and ...

Robotics and Automation for the Food Retail Financial Executive?

Using next-gen functions to parse data strategically leverages technology to improve operational performance, insightfulness, and risk intelligence across the enterprise....

Who Decides What’s for Dinner?

When asked who makes the household food decisions, some people may think of the 1950’s model of homemaking, where a stay-at-home wife did most of the shopping and food selection for a family. FMI’s 2019 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report indicates ...

Confessions of a Subscription-Service Enthusiast

I’ve always been a pushover for predictive analytics, and I take solace in the fact that I’m not alone among those who relish in custom products and services. According to U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2019, I’m one of the 8% of U.S. shoppers who have ...

The Small, But Mighty, Micro-fulfillment Center

One trend emerging at the center of food retail store design is the Micro-Fulfillment Center (MFC), a new automation in the food retail industry. Although small, as the name implies, these warehouses are well equipped to autonomously fulfill online ...

When Technology and The Fresh Department Meet at Groceryshop

Rapidly evolving technologies and consumer preferences are having profound effects on the grocery industry. This is evident throughout the store, but some of the biggest obstacles and opportunities lie within the fresh category. Fresh presents ...

2019 Community Outreach Award Winners: Food Retailers Spread Goodwill in their Neighborhoods

This year, grocers across the country have stepped-up their various acts of generosity with personalized programs and initiatives to impact and benefit their communities. Here are the “best of the best” in the four categories of the Community ...

Food Safety Applications of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Food retailers are frequently at the forefront of introducing emerging technologies that help protect public health. Yet, artificial intelligence and machine learning cannot solve all food safety problems by ...

Shoppers Willing to Be Inconvenienced for High-Quality Foodservice at Retail

These days, convenience is the name of the game. Just look at how shoppers select their primary store. According to FMI’s 2019 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report, 67% of shoppers rate convenience from home as one of the key attributes of their ...

Forced Labor and the Impact on Supply Chain: What Retailers and Manufacturers Need to Know

In today’s “prosumer” world, consumers are placing greater pressure on suppliers and retailers to raise their standards and performance with regards to how products are made and who makes them. Product sourcing is a supply chain responsibility and ...

Engage With Your Elected Officials on FMI’s Advocacy Platform

To help the food retail industry share its story, recently, FMI launched a new, easy to use grassroots advocacy platform. From our Capitol Hill perspective, the new FMI Advocacy Center keeps us connected with our members of Congress, and makes sure ...