How To Have A Successful Family Meals Month

By: Sue Borra, RD, Chief Health and Wellness Officer for FMI and Executive Director of the FMI Foundation

National Family Meals Month™ (NFMM) was first introduced in September of 2015 as a way for food retailers and suppliers to help families share one more meal together each week at home. With busy schedules, multiple household shoppers and most shoppers not knowing what is for dinner at 4:00 pm daily, grocers are in a unique position to help make family meals simple and obtainable. The family meals movement is a way for retailers and suppliers to showcase their partnership with shoppers in helping make family meals happen at breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Family Meals Month has proved to be in high demand among consumers. According to Nielsen, more than four out of five shoppers that saw the campaign reported healthier behaviors such as eating more fruits and vegetables and making healthier choices as a result of seeing the NFMM campaign. Another survey by Nielsen showed that when consumers were familiar with the NFMM campaign, 85 percent said that it was important that they personally eat more meals together as a family (vs. 64 percent who had not seen the campaign).

But the question remains, how can your store or your brand participate in National Family Meals Month this September? Well, we’ve got a new resource for you! Introducing the first edition of Best Practices and Excellence in National Family Meals Month™ Programming—a new resource from the FMI Foundation that highlights different ways retailers and suppliers can take the Family Meals Month concept and run with it. The Guide showcases how partners can:

• Use social media and digital media in interesting ways to promote family meals;
• Implement successful in-store family meals promotions;
• Engage employees/associates in the movement;
• Team up with other companies or community organizations; and
• Combine two or more of these concepts to spread the message about how to make family meals a reality.

Whether you’re developing your plans for September or looking for inspiration, the Best Practice Guide is full of ideas and brings the program to life. Pair it with the National Family Meals Month toolkit for logos, resources and more and visit www.FMIFamilyMeals.com for the latest. If you have questions we’re here to help and at FamilyMealsMonth@fmi.org. We look forward to seeing how you join the family meals movement and what best practices rise to the top this September!