Research

Our Voice of The Food Industry blog offers commentary from FMI subject matter experts on timely and important topics to the food industry.
  • As Shoppers Become Brand Agnostic, What Does That Mean for Private Brands?

    Aug 14, 2020
    Today’s shoppers bring a broad and sophisticated range of criteria with them when making their food shopping decisions. While there still remain occasions and situations where brand is the prime driver (I would never consider any ketchup other than ...
  • Taking Stock of Where We Are: A Look at the Impact of COVID-19 on Grocery Shopper Habits

    Aug 6, 2020
    For five long months, we have all been experiencing the unprecedented realities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the frustrating truths of supply and the dramatically increased demand for groceries. Once ingrained grocery shopping ...
  • Confessions of a Leftover Laggard

    Aug 6, 2020
    I admit to being a bit late to the game when it comes to appreciating the benefits and advantages to leftovers. Truth be told, I’ve never liked them. Even as a child, my Mother reported I would roll my eyes and, in my television-influenced ...
  • Making the Cut: Meat and Poultry Back to the Center of the Plate

    Jul 29, 2020
    Think of today’s selling environment like one of those retail meat cut posters hanging in the butcher shop or meat department. There is a market as a whole, but it is portioned into different sections. Each section has its own features and ...
  • Are We Eating Healthier During COVID-19?

    Jul 28, 2020
    According to the 2020 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report, 21% of Gen Z and Millennials report eating much healthier during the COVID-19 pandemic and 27% report eating somewhat healthier during the pandemic. As a Millennial mom I couldn’t help but ...
  • Moving from Weariness to Well-being

    Jul 23, 2020
    For five months now, requirements in addressing COVID-19 have touched, affected, or changed most every aspect of our lives. Not the least of these is the fact it has reversed a significant food trend; it has driven us from being an eating culture, ...
  • The Pandemic Has Not Stopped Me from Grocery Shopping In Person

    Jul 17, 2020
    The ongoing pandemic has certainly put a crimp in my style. But I never stopped going to the grocery store. While COVID-19 fears shifted online grocery shopping spending from 14.5% to an astounding 27.9%, according to U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends ...
  • Variety to Rationalization to Pantry Loading – Are SKUs Poised to Recover Post-Pandemic?

    Jul 9, 2020
    The food supply chain disruption has brought up, once again, the question of just how many products do we really need on grocery ...
  • A New Look at Shopper Transparency Expectations

    Jul 1, 2020
    The growing power of ecommerce is underscored in FMI’s U.S. Grocery Shopping Trends 2020 (Trends) report. Weekly online grocery spend reported by shoppers soared to 27.9% of all grocery spending in the March/April period of this year, from 14.5% in ...
  • COVID-19 Has Made Me Lose the Joy of Cooking

    Jun 24, 2020
    Cooking brings me joy! At least that was the case until the pandemic struck. One would think that the absence of an hour-long commute at the end of the workday would make me even more excited to cook dinner. Nope. At the end of the day, I am ...
  • Grocery’s Ecommerce Evolution during COVID-19

    Jun 23, 2020
    The pandemic has accelerated ecommerce demand, pressuring capabilities and providing invaluable lessons for the future. I am not usually one to make dramatic statements about industry developments, but I have mostly put that aside during this ...
  • What’s In Your Kitchen?

    Jun 22, 2020
    My freezer, refrigerator and kitchen cabinets have never been this full. And, as I look at the results of our most recent U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends COVID-19 Tracker survey of consumers, it appears that my household is not unique. This food anxiety ...
  • Understanding the Food Retailing Industry During COVID-19

    Jun 1, 2020
    We are surveying our industry during a particularly challenge-riddled time, where COVID-19 has caused our day-to-day store operations and business plans to change dramatically in a very short period. That is why participation in this year’s Speaks ...
  • Food Waste During COVID-19

    May 28, 2020
    We are both single shopper households, and during the COVID-19 pandemic have been lucky to be able to work from home while experimenting with new ways of food shopping and “cooking.” Right in line with a finding in the U.S. Grocery Trends COVID 19 ...
  • Unprecedented Times

    May 21, 2020
    Throughout this pandemic, FMI has been tracking consumer trends and charting how shopping behaviors are changing to accommodate the unique situation that COVID-19 has foisted upon us in our U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends COVID-19 Tracker. Honestly, the ...