Voice of The Food Industry Blog

Who Will (or Will Not) Be Sitting at Your Thanksgiving Table?

As I look at FMI’s most recent U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends COVID-19 Tracker, I see that we are not alone with our dilemma. Nearly a third of Americans are planning to do less this Thanksgiving than in previous years (30%). ...

Uniting the Worldwide Food Safety Community

SQF Global launched today and will conclude on October 30, 2020. The program is offered in multiple languages and time zones to provide collaborative exchange for enhancing food safety and security across the ...

What the Food Industry Needs to Know about the FDA Food Traceability Proposed Rule

The proposed rule on food traceability is in response to Section 204 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and applies to those who manufacture, process, pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List....

Checking In With Walmart on Seafood Sustainability

In honor of October, National Seafood Month, we checked in with one of our members that has been making headlines recently on the sustainable seafood front. Considering their global reach, Walmart has been making strides on sustainable seafood ...

How Food Retail Ecommerce Got Ready for Prime Time

In hindsight, it’s interesting how food retailers described their ecommerce sophistication a year ago in the FMI Food Retailing Industry Speaks report. Only 4% of responding companies with online sales considered themselves to be very sophisticated ...

Elevating the Role of the Supermarket Pharmacist During COVID-19

Throughout the pandemic, FMI has worked closely with federal agencies and Congress to both elevate the critical role of supermarket pharmacists and advocate for our industry’s other essential workers, who together touch the lives of more than 100 ...

Are You Ready for Some Food Ball? The Road to Supper Bowl I

Baseball has its World Series, hockey has the Stanley Cup, tennis has its Wimbledon and football has its Super Bowl. Now the food industry has its Supper Bowl! All of these landmark competitions offer teams the chance to prove they are the best of ...

Four Common Misconceptions About Food Prices

A number of misconceptions regarding grocery prices regularly permeate both the news and our water cooler conversations. These are due to a combination of outdated ideas that should have been put to rest long ago and high profile “examples” that are ...

And Now for Some Good News on the Family Meals Front

The number of partners and stakeholders continues to grow and the creativity with which they have embraced and shared the good news of family meals is yielding incredible results. I am pleased to share that we’ve made another leap, and in 2020, 33% ...

A Tale of Two Years: A Look at The Food Retail Industry in 2019 and Early 2020

The most recent The Food Retailing Industry Speaks report identifies a striking similarity between ”A Tale of Two Cities” and a tale of two years, 2019 and 2020, for the food industry. Both relay the story of how stark change and challenging times ...

Making A Difference: It’s What Grocers Do

It’s these acts of goodwill that are in the very fabric of a food retailer’s being. Grocers strengthen their communities with programs designed to keep kids busy and engaged; offer useful information about nutrition and health; and assist in ...

Considering the Importance of the WTO and Its Leadership

One of the things the COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us is that our supply chains are no longer regional or even national, but international. In the U.S., we depend on trade to help increase efficiency, keep product flowing year-round and lower ...

Five Fresh Foods Essentials for the COVID-19 Era and Beyond: FreshForward 2020 Recap

Fresh foods are the accelerator for food retail success — but what is the accelerator for fresh foods? That question is at the heart of what the industry explored during the recent FMI FreshForward event. Retailers, manufacturers and other senior-...

I Am Running Out of Ideas, Somebody Help!

As I made my way by the deli section, I was forced to follow a different path than normal because of the new one-way signs on the floor. As I explored this new area of the store that I did not know existed, I saw an array of chicken, seafood and ...

Goodwill for Hard Times: 2020 Community Outreach Awards

We need more stories of comity that feed our spirits in acts of human kindness. Our Community Outreach Awards highlight the oft-unmentioned goodwill of grocers that serve and shape our ...