Research

If We Had a Crystal Ball … What Could Grocery Shopping Look Like in the Future?

Even in the best of times, most of us would like the ability to take a peek into the future. However, during these unprecedented times, the desire to know what is going to happen next increases dramatically. Since March 21, 2020, FMI has been ...

We’re All In This Together

Since the early days of the pandemic, FMI staff have been tracking news stories recording the food industry’s responses to their communities. Our tracking is a growing spreadsheet updated daily with nearly 200 rows documenting stories of food, ...

COVID-19’s Impact on Grocery Shopping in Just Five Weeks

As Americans continue to cope with new realities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not alone as grocery shopping has shifted dramatically. As I look each week at the results of our U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends COVID-19 tracking surveys of ...

Latinx and Black Consumer Adjustments to Grocery Shopping During COVID-19

Over the last few weeks, FMI and The Hartman Group have been tracking how shoppers are finding new ways of grocery shopping during this pandemic. This week, we want to take a closer look at Latinx and Black grocery shoppers compared to all shoppers ...

What Value-Added Really Means for Fresh Categories

We’re living in a new era, but some things still hold true. Grocery stores are open, and shoppers are still seeking ways to put a meal on the table nightly—maybe now more than ever before. There is a rebirth of cooking going on in America and as ...

Home is Where the Heart… Wait, Home is Where Everything Is

Helping families of all shapes and sizes share meals together both in home and virtually is a foundational purpose the various parts of the food industry open their respective doors for business each day – even in these coronavirus stressful days. ...

Feeding Families in the Time of COVID-19

Americans coping with new realities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic are experiencing increased uncertainty and anxiety about their food procurement. These worries are driven by a combination of a growing concern about the spread of the virus and ...

Grocery Shopping in the Time of COVID-19

As consumers experience the unprecedented realities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and confront the frustrating truths of supply and demand, once ingrained grocery shopping habits have shifted to some new behaviors. As one would expect, shoppers ...

What will Help Consumers Accept Gene Edited Food Products?

The FMI Foundation, in collaboration with American Seed Trade Association, Farm Bureau and the Farm Foundation, recently commissioned Dr. Vincenzina Caputo at Michigan State University to conduct research gauging consumer acceptance of gene edited ...

Food Industry Leaders Must Learn, Unlearn and Relearn

The trick to navigating this new landscape is being smart about what you need to learn, what you must unlearn and then what you need to relearn. And the key to effective leadership during this era of evolution is first, knowing the degree to which ...

Numbers Don’t Lie: Grocery Remains A Steady Hand in Developing the Workforce of Tomorrow

Numbers don’t lie. The food retail industry knows where its strength lies and is making the investment in upgrading skills and technology to develop the workforce of the future. When it comes to our business model, nothing could be more fundamental. ...

Omnishopper Size of the Prize

For the past few years, FMI has partnered with Nielsen on important research that does just that—pauses and looks at the state of the omnichannel marketplace for grocery shoppers and reflects on what is happening. In the beginning we focused on ...

Connecting the Wellness Dots in The Grocery Store

We live in an age of personalization. A shopper looking for Keto meal options and a shopper seeking blood pressure medicine both have the same end goal—a personalized grocery shopping experience that gets them the products they need and want. For ...

Guess What? Gen Z and Millennials Like To Grocery Shop At The Store

FMI recently teamed up with the USC Marshall School of Business on The Grocery Shopping Habits of Gen Z and Millennials. We started our research by asking the source with focus group interviews of Gen Z and millennial grocery shoppers. These ...

6 Product Labels Shoppers Want and Retailers Are Providing

Shoppers want to eat well, but the idea of eating well is unique to each person and each household. Eating well could mean following a specific diet, trying the latest food trend or meeting medical needs through food. Often, in order to eat well, ...