Supply Chain

Helping Small to Medium Suppliers with their Food Safety Programs

At Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) our mission and vision of protecting the food supply chain from farm to fork is again exemplified with the addition of our NEW SQF Food Safety Fundamentals ...

How Trading Partners Can Leverage Data to Improve the Supply Chain

Trading partners struggle to connect the dots between inefficiencies in the supply chain. As food retail navigates the era of digital disruption, advancements in technology have introduced new ways to capture and analyze data....

Creating Agility in Today’s Supply Chain

At the end of any well-executed grocery supply chain is a satisfied consumer. However, as we witness an era of unprecedented change in food retail, supply chains must become more agile to keep today’s consumer ...

Emerging Technologies Transforming the Supply Chain: A Supply Chain Disruptor and Transformer

As advances in technology continue to disrupt the norm, more industry leaders look toward emerging technologies as solution providers for the diverse challenges existing in trading partners’ business ...

Blockchain for Traceability and Independent Operators

Most food traceability systems are centralized or distributed. Blockchain allows for a decentralized system. It ensures appropriate visibility for each secure, authenticated and verifiable transaction. By getting everyone on the same page and using ...

As Society Shifts, So Too Does Risk Management

At first blush, it would be easy to say that risk management is nothing new to food retail. However, as technology evolves so does the risk management solutions available to supermarkets. Here are some risk management points to ...

Saluting our Brave, Resilient Grocery Industry

Supermarkets always serve as the cornerstones of their communities, but that role is never seen with more clarity than when the community is in peril, a state of emergency. When the neighborhood stands in the direst of need, the grocery store -...

Understanding the New Food Marketplace

Terms never spoken just a few years ago are now entering the lexicon of those involved with the food industry: Urban agriculture. Vertical farming. Lab-grown meat. Plant based protein. Food-as-a-service. Statistics and forecasts about the future ...

What Is a Food Incubator?

A friend of mine is a backyard, urban chicken farmer. She uses a traditional egg incubator to nurture, protect and grown her precious eggs into newborn chicks. Whenever she has tried to leave the eggs to fend for themselves, disaster has struck. ...

The Potential for Artificial Intelligence in Food Retail

According to a fall 2017 MIT study, 85 percent of executives believe artificial intelligence will transform their companies, but only one in five have done anything to begin incorporating it into their ...

Strategic Questions for the Last Mile Challenge in the Digitally Engaged Marketplace

That last mile, from the retailer to the consumer - indeed, the most expensive mile - is the puzzle we are working to solve. Throughout the industry, a number of models are being tested and questions are being ...

Next-Generation Loyalty: Get it Right in Food Retailing

Having a loyal customer base is one sure-fire way to effectively compete in today’s ultra-competitive marketplace, but too often loyalty is viewed as a card, program or an initiative. Loyalty is not something you do—loyalty has to be earned, ...

Transparency, Research and A Visit to The Ukraine: Private Brands in 2017

The private brands work FMI performed in 2017 focused on transparency, research and exploring lessons learned and opportunities from other countries. While perhaps not as catchy as Julius Caesar’s “Veni, vidi, vici - We came, we saw, we conquered,” ...

Digital Transformation Takes Food Retail By Storm in 2017

The grocery industry is at a critical tipping point. In January 2017, Nielsen and FMI embarked on a multi-year initiative to explore this unprecedented digital transformation. Initial findings from FMI’s The Digitally Engaged Food Shopper study ...

Emerging Issues: Identifying Challenges to Food Retailing

This is where FMI adds significant value to its members and their trading partners. Through our Emerging Issues initiative, we identify issues that have the greatest potential to affect the food industry in the next three to five ...