By Rick Stein, Vice President, Fresh Foods, Food Marketing Institute 
The nation’s leading food retail business magnates are often an overlooked population when named as individuals, but collectively, their voices resonate with the power to capture consumer purchase and behavior trends, which are scrutinized by financial analysts and charted as market drivers for our economy.
Notably, Warren Buffett has roots in in the grocery industry, and his name is among a long line of thought and entrepreneurial business leaders who perhaps haven’t quite made the same headlines as Mr. Buffett – but their markets are as bullish and bearish.
Similar to The Street, when the food retail industry speaks, we certainly listen at FMI. Our Food Retailing Industry Speaks report is in its 64th year, and an emphasis on perishables has been consistently the top retail differentiation strategy by virtually all retailers and received a rating of 8.3 out of 10 as their most successful strategy. Ninety-three percent of all companies surveyed indicated that they were selling fresh, prepared food for takeout. Many grocery stores have developed immediate consumption sections, all selling fresh prepared meats, salads, sandwiches, sushi and beverages. Some operators are bringing a restaurant feel right into the shopping experience. In fact, retailers strongly predict they will invest more in fresh food in 2014.
FMI has in turn invested in a new research project with Technomic that aims to better elements of fresh prepared foods, from consumer perspectives to marketplace developments, to back-of-house operational efficiencies. I look forward to sharing our results with you and I welcome your participation in this pioneering initiative at FMI. Message me @Ricks_FreshFood or rstein@fmi.org
For more information on Speaks, view a video and test your industry knowledge at www.fmi.org/groceryspeaks.
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