Retail Operations

The Power of Making The World A Better Place

According to The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2023, 82% of food retailers emphasize community support or community ties. What’s more 62% of food retailers surveyed report these community uplift programs are successful at connecting with customers. ...

Supplier Diversity Collaboration and Progress

The FMI Supplier Diversity Committee met in person to exchange insights and initiatives each is using to develop their relationships with diverse suppliers and bring a broader range of products to their ...

Photo Friday: Historic D.C. Site Welcomes a New Tenant

FMI's Christine Pollack and Madalyn Farrar joined Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel and others for the opening of a new Whole Foods in Washington, D.C., located at the former Walter Reed Army Medical ...

Traveling This Summer: Keep an Eye Out

For many, summertime means travel. I’m reminded on the news daily that there is more congestion on the roads headed to popular vacation destinations, which I can imagine means that there are more people at the rest stops on the way to those ...

Supply Chain Challenges: Finding Light at the End of the Tunnel

The food industry has learned countless supply chain lessons in recent years and companies are putting strategies in place to ease the challenges. The result is that there is some light at the end of the long supply chain ...

Moving Beyond Problem Solving to Supersized Solution Scheming

In this video, FMI President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin gives a state of the industry address focusing on six imperative issues confronting the food industry and how FMI adds ...

Gear Up for Competition!

When competition draws near for a business, there is no reason to panic. However, a proactive and strategic plan ought to be in place with a practical and effective approach. Here are a few strategies to consider in navigating and thriving in ...

Words of Wisdom from Store Managers

After 175 nominations, more than any previous year, 12 deserving finalists and a record 10,182 votes in the People’s Pick Contest, FMI unveiled the five recipients of the 2023 Store Manager Awards in a live virtual celebration. I joined FMI staff in ...

The 2023 Hurricane Season is Upon Us

How quickly a year flies by! I’m still having difficulty processing that May is almost over, let alone that hurricane season is just around the corner. We know that no one in the food industry is immune to inclement weather. Hurricanes, in ...

The New Coupon Standard Is Here. Are You Ready?

As consumers increasingly look to stretch their grocery dollar, cost saving measures such as using coupons continue to grow. A new coupon standard provides universal, single-use coupons validated in real-time through The Coupon Bureau’s (TCB) ...

How Food Retailers Should Use Artificial Intelligence

Business leaders in food retail are just starting to scratch the surface of how artificial intelligence (AI) will benefit their organizations and evolve this industry. There has also been a quiet call to action that more of the industry’s commercial ...

Tech Tools that Improve Audits and Reporting Processes

If accelerating technology is reshaping the way grocers procure and sell products, it’s also impacting the way they evaluate and report on their businesses. Advances in financial and auditing technologies provide food retailers and suppliers with ...

Photo Friday: Sustainability in the Grocery Store

I recently joined Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO) professor and agriculture economist Dr. Ricky Volpe's class on “Food Retail Management.” Along with 45 students, we met with Jonathan Tan from The Ratio Institute, a nonprofit certifying body for ...

The Latest in Financial Trends for The Food Industry

It’s been a busy decade so far in finance and accounting. The first three years of the 2020s have been marked – and in some cases, rocked – by a steady stream of major events that have impacted retailers’ and suppliers’ books and bottom lines and ...

Northgate Market in Cooking Up Change in the Community

Sometimes we don’t really grasp how one program, grounded by a local grocery store, and supported by an entire community, can impact the lives of so many until we get a chance to see that impact firsthand. What an honor when Northgate Gonzalez ...