Supply Chain

Does That Empty Shelf Mean There’s a Product Shortage?

SKU rationalization is a process by which food retailers and manufacturers manage their inventories to be able to offer their customers the most in-demand products or create shelf space for new and innovative ...

Amazingly Resilient, Deeply Caring: A Leadership Perspective from Anthony Hucker, Southeastern Grocers

FMI Midwinter Executive Conference Chair, Anthony Hucker, president and chief executive officer, Southeastern Grocers Inc. (SEG), reflects on his own experiences and the ways he upholds his commitment to putting people first in this turbulent ...

Navigating the VUCA Supply Chain in the Post Pandemic Era

Though our food supply chain remains resilient, it has seen its fair share of uncertainty and constraints with no real end in sight. Given this, the acronym ‘VUCA’— which stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity— has been used ...

Our Favorite Buzzwords: Unprecedented Disruption

It is heartening to know that together, we can navigate through today’s unpredictable marketplace and chart a course into the future. I’m thrilled to share this short clip with you in preparation for the FMI Midwinter Executive Conference, held ...

Navigating an Extreme Obstacle Course

As I look at the results of The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2022 report, I see many of my professional role models throughout the food industry navigating a different type of obstacle course than my childhood idols. The food industry has had to ...

Food Prices – What Goes Up Must Come Down, Right? YES, But…

Many of the current challenges facing the economy as a whole have been aggravated and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the recent increase in grocery prices is not something that simply happened overnight or that is entirely pandemic ...

Addressing Root Causes of Supply Chain Disruption in Transportation and Logistics

We’ve seen that our supply chain is resilient to a point, but we also have sustained inflationary and workforce pressures at play; therefore, there is a real need and opportunity for industry collaboration across the entire value chain to restore ...

New Infographic: July 4th Barbecue Breakdown

To help support our members’ communications with customers this holiday weekend regarding food price inflation, FMI has created a new July 4th Barbeque Breakdown infographic that highlights common ingredients people consume during their holiday ...

Supply Chain Pressures to Persist in 2022

Building long-term capacity and resilience in the food industry supply chain is an imperative issue for retailers and suppliers alike. Collaboration and communication are key to determining root causes, addressing current roadblocks, and building ...

Photo Friday: FMI Participates in White House Trucking Event

FMI's Jennifer Hatcher and Christine Pollack were invited to attend a White House event to celebrate the trucking profession and the Biden Administration's 90 Day Trucking Challenge to expand the trucking ...

How Does FMI Know the Current State of the Food Industry?

The answer is from YOU. We know because the industry tells us each year when we ask, as we have been doing every year for more than 70 years. The first ever The Food Retailing Industry Speaks (Speaks) report appeared in 1949. Seventy-three years ...

Eyeing Greater Urgency on Key Issues

As we near what we hope is the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, FMI and Oliver Wyman have reconvened and published Volume 7 of our annual journal to provide a future-focused roadmap for the food industry that harnesses the wisdom and insights learned ...

Interview with Chieh Huang of Boxed: Part II, Supply Chain and Technology

FMI Midwinter Executive Conference Chairman and Co-Founder and CEO of Boxed.com, Chieh Huang, has a storied career starting his wholesale technology platform after a successful background in both law and tech. Before he takes the stage at our ...

Interview with Chieh Huang, Boxed.com: Part I, Investments in Workforce

FMI Midwinter Executive Conference Chairman and Co-Founder and CEO of Boxed.com, Chieh Huang, responded to several questions I had for him regarding his journey to build a successful wholesale and technology platform from the ground-up that recently ...

New Year Brings the Same Challenges — But Also New Opportunities

2022 was not supposed to begin this way. When I attended last February’s USDA Agriculture Outlook, the agency predicted that food prices would stabilize and return to a more traditional rate of growth of between one and two percent. Unfortunately, a ...