Health and Well-being

Speaking from the Heart on Valentine’s Day

I am seizing this opportunity to issue this blog as my heartfelt Valentine’s Day card to the food industry, the community I have always admired and respected, but have come to appreciate and dare I say, love, in some new and more profound ways over ...

How the Food Industry Can Write the Next Normal

At our 2021 Midwinter Executive Conference, Leslie Sarasin, FMI president and CEO, addressed how the food industry can write the next normal post-COVID-19....

Defining Food as Medicine in Food Retail

The concept of “Food as Medicine” is based on the science of connecting food to improved health. At a time when we know there is growing consumer interest in eating better to strengthen immunity and prevent disease, it is appropriate to talk about ...

Celebrating Supermarket Employee Day

On February 22, 2021, I will be celebrating the hard-working heroes of the supermarket by joining with the industry to proclaim it Supermarket Employee Day. The supermarket has long been acknowledged as the backbone of our communities, but its role ...

Who Will Be In The First-Ever Supper Bowl Finals?

The road to the Supper Bowl is getting a bit more intense with the voting now open to determine which two of the eight semi-finalists proceed to the championship round. Go to FMI.org/SupperBowl for a snazzy video describing the remaining eight ...

“Make Every Bite Count” with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released as anticipated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) just before the end of 2020. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue emphasized that, “good food ...

Grocery Store or Community Center?

Grocery stores are offering a holistic experience for shoppers—almost a community center approach—by delivering the full spectrum of services from food and supplies to prescriptions from the pharmacist, tips from the registered dietitian, and meal ...

2020: The Year of the Food Industry

From the cashiers and stockers to the store managers and executives, the drivers and food processors and pharmacist and nutritionists, to the data analysts, delivery experts and farmers, our industry is filled with true Food Industry Heroes who have ...

Today is Giving Tuesday!

Following closely on the retail-oriented heels of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday provides us with the opportunity to begin the holiday season on a charitable giving note. If you are participating in the ...

Industry Contributions to Health and Well-being

As noted in The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2020 (Speaks) report, “the greatest health crisis in 100 years has scrambled just about every facet of food retail, not to mention society in general.” As a result, one guiding imperative resonates ...

What’s for Dinner? Try the Menu of a Supper Bowl Contender

The battle for a semi-final berth was incredibly tight with only three votes separating the covenanted eighth place slot advancing to the next round and the ninth-place finisher left with thoughts of what could have been and hopes for next ...

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 ...