Fresh Foods

Food Industry Senior Leaders Energized About Fresh Foods Opportunities

Sometimes it’s hard to see past the hurdles facing the food industry. Executives sometimes hope to grab opportunities but struggle with a range of challenges. This is especially relevant to three topic tracks spotlighted at the most recent FMI ...

How the Food Industry Can Maintain “Fresh” Momentum

This is a great time to be in the fresh foods business, considering strong consumer demand and increased industry investments. Despite the positives, the industry needs to focus on strategies that can help maintain and even grow fresh momentum over ...

The Laws of Motion Propelling Fresh Foods

Newton's three laws of motion are important concepts to consider as we explore the State of Fresh ...

Lessons Learned from IDDBA 2023

This year I was honored to speak on the main stage of the 2023 International Deli Dairy Bakery Association conference where I shared key findings from our 2022 Power of In-Store Bakery report. It was exciting to see that many of our research ...

Eyeing Today, Tomorrow and the Future for Fresh Foods

Fresh food executives have very good instincts about their businesses, but they also need to rely on more than just that. In quickly changing times leaders need to understand how their business performance and plans compare with those of competitors....

Time-Strapped Shoppers Seeking Convenience in the Produce Department

There comes a time in everyone’s life when one must face their previous decisions and that day for me is moving day. The sum of my previous purchases literally weighs on me as I carry boxes up and down staircases. It’s a stressful and busy time, ...

Seafood: Two Steps Forward, One Step Backward

After the incredible growth of seafood sales at retail in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020), seafood maintained its upward trajectory in 2021 to take the proverbial two steps forward. However, 2022 proved to be a very different story ...

Three Essential Topics to Advance Fresh Foods

If I asked you what are the most important fresh foods topics for the industry now, how would you respond? You might point to subjects such as food price inflation, competing with restaurants, sustainability, health and well-being, prepared foods, ...

The State of Meat Remains Strong

Despite rumors of its demise, the state of the meat category in grocery retail remains strong. As shared with the almost 2,000 attendees at the Annual Meat Conference last week in Dallas, the Power of Meat report, conducted by FMI and the Meat ...

Drumroll Please: Introducing the 2023 Class of FMI Store Manager Awards Nominees

In addition to celebrating the hardworking people who make up our industry, we want to pay special attention to the store managers who are the heartbeat of local supermarkets across the globe. These devoted leaders embody their company’s vision and ...

Food Safety Priorities Take Shape for 2023

Each year, FMI's Food Protection Committee sets initiatives to help guide and prioritize their work. These priorities help to focus our communication with member companies about pressing food safety issues and direct our efforts with Congress and ...

Creative Ways to Find and Keep Meat Retail Staff

The labor squeeze has hit many industries over the past two years, causing employers to rethink how to entice new workers and retain existing ones. In the meat industry – which has often challenging environments and tasks that require specific ...

Coupons, Packaging and Home Meal Prep – Oh My!

I‘m not a grocer, but I am a marketing professional who loves to grocery shop. That’s part of why I’m passionate about my work to support the food industry. A bright spot in my project portfolio is the FMI Midwinter Executive Conference. I recently ...

What Leading Agricultural Technology Companies Want Food Retailers to Know

It is no secret that there are more and more of us on this planet every day. In fact, by the year 2030, there will be 8.6 billion of us. How will we feed a population that size on, a more crowded and hotter planet, with finite resources? The answer ...

Table Stakes: A Resilient, Transparent Meat Supply Chain

The farm-to-fork path has taken some twists and turns over the past few years. One part of the route is a rougher haul, marked by often simultaneous crises. Another part of the path is being cleared to provide a better view from production to the ...