Highlights of the FMI Supplier Development committee's work to support small, local and diverse vendors, including a partnership with WBENC to share consumer insights that help suppliers grow.
By: Cynthia Brazzel, Sr. Director, Member Relations & Advocacy (Western Region), FMI and Allison Febrey, Senior Manager, Research & Insights, FMI
At the core of our members' mission is to deliver variety and quality items to shoppers. This means reaching far and wide to find a diverse array of products, interesting flavors, foods and meal solutions that represent the needs and desires of the communities where we serve.
So, it is no surprise that we place importance on building relationships with a variety of suppliers and producers. To that end, FMI's Supplier Development committee exists to bring together the practitioners who help nurture and develop small, local and diverse vendors to be able to deliver the quantity and meet the quality standards of our companies.
Build Strong Partnerships
FMI partners with organizations that help vendors who are growing and developing to meet the scale of our members' needs. One such organization that we partner with is WBENC — Women Business Enterprise National Council, which recently met in New Orleans.
FMI's research manager, Allison Febrey, was invited to address the Food and Agriculture track at this event. She shared findings and insights from U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends, such as information about shoppers' changing habits, their engagement with emerging dimensions of value and the logic of grocery shopping. She also presented data from the just-released Food Retailing Industry Speaks report, demonstrating how the food industry, through its evolution into a modern grocery experience, is conditioning itself for growth. The audience was engaged and asked questions diving further into all aspects of the grocery shopping experience.
WBENC provides a valuable service to women entrepreneurs many of whom are small businesses. By certifying these businesses, our members can know these companies have met the standards to validate their ownership.
The Supplier Development committee is comprised of retailers, wholesalers and product suppliers who collaborate to:
- Share best practices
- Build Sales and Innovation
- Reduce carbon footprint by leaning on local suppliers
- Drive local economic impact
Through this collaboration, we develop and enhance the local small and diverse suppliers that bring our retailers a differentiated shopping experience, driving sales and brand loyalty.
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