Voice of Food Retail Blog

Your Health: Paying for It Now or Later

You pay for it now or you pay for it later – that is, when it comes to your health. These are the words from a consumer recently interviewed by IRI for our 2018 Top Trends in Fresh, which point to a struggle that is playing out every day in the food ...

Coming Clean About Clean Labeling

Our FMI Private Brand Council singled out the trend in clean eating due to consumer’s yearning for transparency, trust, authenticity and integrity in the food system. Still, we recognize that there are numerous inconsistencies relevant to the clean ...

How the Role of Store Managers Has Changed

While the role of a store manager still requires a friendly face and a strong work ethic, just like the evolving marketplace, their duties are being ...

Setting Our 2018 Food Safety Priorities

FMI members are on the front lines of food safety. Food safety professionals in our industry interact daily with customers to answer food safety questions, train associates on food safety best practices, and work with local regulators to help ensure ...

Seeking Common Sense Solutions to an Irrational Rule

I’ve worked with our food retail and wholesale members on a gamut of labeling issues – from nutrition facts to Facts Up Front to bioengineering – but no issue has been more confusing for food retailers than menu labeling, a regulation originally ...

Photo Friday: Publix Super Markets Recognized for 2017 Food Safety Innovation Award

Publix Super Markets was recognized for receiving the 2017 Food Safety Innovation Award at FMI’s Food Safety Committee meeting held on Friday, January 26 prior to the 2018 Midwinter Executive Conference. Publix was selected by the award selection ...

As Society Shifts, So Too Does Risk Management

At first blush, it would be easy to say that risk management is nothing new to food retail. However, as technology evolves so does the risk management solutions available to supermarkets. Here are some risk management points to ...

The View from Washington

FMI recently published its end-of-year report to emphasize the value of our government relations and advocacy successes in 2017....

Saluting our Brave, Resilient Grocery Industry

Supermarkets always serve as the cornerstones of their communities, but that role is never seen with more clarity than when the community is in peril, a state of emergency. When the neighborhood stands in the direst of need, the grocery store -...

Photo Friday: FMI and SQF Visit Specialty Food Association’s Fancy Food Show

This week, Robert Garfield, senior vice president, and LeAnn Chuboff, vice president of technical affairs, of the Safe Quality Food Institute presented at Specialty Food Association’s Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, California....

2018 Midwinter Executive Conference by the Numbers

It’s the middle of winter, which means it’s time again for the food retail industry to gather together and discuss how to better leverage digital trends and consumer demands at the 2018 Midwinter Executive ...

Understanding the New Food Marketplace

Terms never spoken just a few years ago are now entering the lexicon of those involved with the food industry: Urban agriculture. Vertical farming. Lab-grown meat. Plant based protein. Food-as-a-service. Statistics and forecasts about the future ...

What Is a Food Incubator?

A friend of mine is a backyard, urban chicken farmer. She uses a traditional egg incubator to nurture, protect and grown her precious eggs into newborn chicks. Whenever she has tried to leave the eggs to fend for themselves, disaster has struck. ...

The Potential for Artificial Intelligence in Food Retail

According to a fall 2017 MIT study, 85 percent of executives believe artificial intelligence will transform their companies, but only one in five have done anything to begin incorporating it into their ...

FSMA Compliance Dates Continue to Arrive and FDA Clarifies Certain Provisions

With the FSMA Produce Safety Rule compliance date later this month, the FDA continues to educate and clarify how they expect the industry to comply with FSMA regulations. On January 4, 2018, the FDA announced their intention to exert discretionary ...