Research

Our Voice of The Food Industry blog offers commentary from FMI subject matter experts on timely and important topics to the food industry.
  • 2020: The Year of the Food Industry

    Dec 3, 2020
    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!

    Dec 1, 2020
    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 ...
  • The Most Important Communications Tool During COVID-19: Transparency

    Nov 30, 2020
    Every year in The Food Retailing Industry Speaks report we ask food retailers about their communications channels/methods and which they find to be most effective. In a typical year I’d tell you which social media channels food retailers are finding ...
  • Industry Contributions to Health and Well-being

    Nov 24, 2020
    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 ...
  • New Twists on Retail Differentiation Strategies

    Nov 20, 2020
    Food retailers have been adapting their product and service differentiation strategies. In 2019, they pushed the boundaries to enhance strategies in specific areas. Then, in the pandemic period, they have pivoted on some strategies to accommodate ...
  • Innovation Takes on New Meaning in Private Brands

    Nov 6, 2020
    When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, many companies temporarily put at least some private brand product innovation on hold to address the crisis. More recently, we’re starting to see a renewed commitment to innovation. Food retailers saw the pandemic ...
  • Food Retailers Put Technology Front and Center

    Nov 5, 2020
    Consider how technology experimentation has played out in the food retail industry. In recent years, retailers have made progress in fits and starts, going after use cases ranging from better customer experience to improved efficiency. ...
  • Witnessing the Food Industry

    Nov 3, 2020
    Recently, I was able to share insights gleaned from my experience by speaking at the Retailing Summit hosted by FMI’s newest university member, Texas A&M and the Mays School of Business Center for Retailing Studies. My talk at the virtual event was ...
  • Who Will (or Will Not) Be Sitting at Your Thanksgiving Table?

    Oct 28, 2020
    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%). ...
  • How Food Retail Ecommerce Got Ready for Prime Time

    Oct 22, 2020
    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 ...
  • Four Common Misconceptions About Food Prices

    Oct 16, 2020
    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

    Oct 15, 2020
    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

    Oct 14, 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 ...
  • I Am Running Out of Ideas, Somebody Help!

    Oct 6, 2020
    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 ...
  • Consumers Need Help Cooking Frozen Foods

    Oct 2, 2020
    On September 23, 2020, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a press release highlighting new consumer research on the preparation of frozen ...