News

Meal Planning and Cooking Got You Down? Food Retailers to the Rescue!

We both love family meals. For Kelli, family meals were a tradition growing up and she is committed to making family meals happen every day. Krystal also credits her commitment to family tradition and has both a personal and professional passion for ...

The Olympic Truth of Family Meals

I am a self-confessed Olympics junkie. Every four years (well five, this time around) I become immersed in all manner of sporting events and hastily channel-surf past any other program. My interest is partly patriotism, but mainly, I’m fueled by a ...

Witnessing the Rise in Retailer Contributions to Health and Well-being

This year’s Retailer Contributions to Health and Well-being report tells the story behind the dramatic increase in food retail health and well-being initiatives over the past two years. In parallel, I can tell my own story as I witnessed firsthand ...

Health and Well-being in the Meat Department – Seize the Opportunity!

Over the past year, consumers have flocked to the meat department like never before. Retailers and product suppliers have a prime opportunity to ensure consumers are satisfied with their product selections and choices. Research indicates that while ...

Staying Strong with Family Meals and Food Safety

The time is right to help families include food safety skills and healthy eating habits at home, especially as they cook and enjoy more family meals together. With registered dietitians and food safety experts taking on greater responsibilities, the ...

What’s for Supper During the Super Bowl? Serve up a Supper Bowl Champion Dish

Super Bowl LV pits the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Kansas City Chiefs, but the Supper Bowl had the powerhouse Hy-Vee, Inc. competing against the jammin’ J. M. Smucker Company in the championship round....

Today is Giving Tuesday!

Following closely on the retail-oriented heels of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday provides us with the opportunity to begin the holiday season on a charitable giving note. If you are participating in the ...

Industry Contributions to Health and Well-being

As noted in The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2020 (Speaks) report, “the greatest health crisis in 100 years has scrambled just about every facet of food retail, not to mention society in general.” As a result, one guiding imperative resonates ...

Are You Ready for Some Food Ball? The Road to Supper Bowl I

Baseball has its World Series, hockey has the Stanley Cup, tennis has its Wimbledon and football has its Super Bowl. Now the food industry has its Supper Bowl! All of these landmark competitions offer teams the chance to prove they are the best of ...

And Now for Some Good News on the Family Meals Front

The number of partners and stakeholders continues to grow and the creativity with which they have embraced and shared the good news of family meals is yielding incredible results. I am pleased to share that we’ve made another leap, and in 2020, 33% ...

Family Meals Month – Helping our Industry Stay Strong

Americans are using family meals to stay strong – physically and emotionally – during the pandemic; and they plan to continue this positive practice when a new normal is established. The FMI Foundation conducted a national survey confirming that ...

The Food Industry Celebrates Family Meals Month

The food industry is rallying around National Family Meals Month™. Here are some of the MANY activities we’ve seen encouraging families to make the most of their time around the ...

So, How Does America Feel about All These Family Meals?

COVID-19 has certainly changed our approach to family meals and perhaps reshaped our attitude about preparing them, but has it affected the benefits and how we perceive them? We wanted to know, so the FMI Foundation funded research to find out and ...

A Millennial Declaration to Strengthen Family Meals

At the intersection of health and well-being and food safety, the Family Meals Movement signifies community service, inclusion, respect and a drive to build a brighter future ...

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Family Meals

The genius of the Wizard of Oz story lies in its ability to creatively convey a simple, but hard truth about human nature; we frequently go wishing for miracle solutions to our problems, when the answers we seek are already in our possession. Tin ...

Confessions of a Leftover Laggard

I admit to being a bit late to the game when it comes to appreciating the benefits and advantages to leftovers. Truth be told, I’ve never liked them. Even as a child, my Mother reported I would roll my eyes and, in my television-influenced ...

Moving from Weariness to Well-being

For five months now, requirements in addressing COVID-19 have touched, affected, or changed most every aspect of our lives. Not the least of these is the fact it has reversed a significant food trend; it has driven us from being an eating culture, ...

The New Normal Encouraging New Habits

The food industry recognizes that “family meal fatigue” is a real thing for everyone and that customers in all categories are in the same boat in which I find myself. We need help, solutions and new ideas to address the menu challenges of this ...

Eating and Cooking During COVID-19; Lessons in Tart Improvisation

According to the U.S. Grocery Shoppers Trends COVID-19 Tracker survey, 76% of consumers have changed how they eat due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While I do not always plan my meals, 27% of consumers are planning more meals in advance these days. Some ...

A Recipe for Safely Preparing Food at Home during COVID-19

What’s for dinner? It is one of those age-old questions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the question has evolved and it’s not just what’s for dinner, but what’s for breakfast? Lunch? Snack? Dessert?...