Location and exact date will be announced in October, 2019.
Ask the Retailer | FreshForward 2018 Wrap-Up
The fresh category in retail is turning the food retail business on its head. It’s the ultimate disruptive category when competing for business share.
FreshForward is a senior executive thought-leadership event—exclusive and invitation-only. We tackle the future of fresh at retail, generating new ideas and actionable steps.
Developed in Collaboration with
Stephanie Lundquist, executive vice president and president of food and beverage for Target, will be interviewed by Leslie G. Sarasin, president and CEO of FMI, at FreshForward. During this ‘fireside chat’-style interview, she'll communicate Target's food and beverage vision and outline how its strategy has evolved, and how Target is prioritizing this segment of its business. Stephanie and Leslie will address the unique role that food plays in a multi-category store, the imperative of fresh along with its unique challenges, and the importance of industry collaboration. The result will be an informative and insightful look at Target and the industry’s overall opportunities.
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Suzy Monford is Kroger’s Group Vice President of Fresh Merchandising. In this role, Suzy oversees Kroger’s fresh departments of meat, seafood, produce, floral, deli & cheese, prepared foods, bakery and culinary. Consumers are embracing food trends ranging from freshness to transparency, but their needs are far from one-size-fits-all. Retailers and suppliers need to better understand changing shopper fresh foods preferences across a wide range of demographics and channels. Join Suzy as she discusses opportunities to improve how the fresh industry engages with consumers, and the prize is big for those who crack the code.
We're looking forward to the lively discussion at FreshForward 2019 on:
Perhaps you have a few questions about these yourself? Submit a question below and we'll sort through them and post selected answers!
John Ruane, Chief Merchandising Officer Giant Food Stores, LLC Question We’ve been hearing more about the use of traceability technologies that may boost food safety, such as blockchain. What role does technology play in enhancing fresh food safety? John's Answer Technology is a very important component to advancing food safety, but there’s no silver bullet. While traceability technologies, such as blockchain, can play a fundamental role in enhancing food safety programs, advancing the overall food safety system requires improved supply chain collaboration, more consistent data-capturing procedures, and engagement with government officials. The best solution when it comes to fresh food safety is prevention of contamination throughout the entire supply chain.
Terry Murphy, Group Vice President, Fresh Wakefern Food Corp. Question The industry is hoping that ‘smart’ packaging will help reduce loss by extending the shelf-life of food. Is there concern that this might conflict with other retailer initiatives, such as reducing the use of plastic packaging? Terry's Answer Retailers are embracing sustainability and adopting practices to reduce the use of plastics and combat food waste. The use of smart packaging has a lot of promise to help achieve that goal. With smart packaging, the functionality of packaging expands beyond protecting and preserving the contents of a product. Smart packaging is packaging that monitors and provides information about the condition of a product, which has the potential to enhance the consumer perceptions on the freshness and quality of products. With any change, there is always the potential for unintended consequences; therefore, it is critical for supply chain partners to actively work together when adopting new strategies and programs for reducing waste.
FreshForward 2018 Presentations
The Evolving Customer Health and wellness Experience Transparency Social impact
Global Food Production
Digital Transparency Safety Regulatory
Combating Food Loss
Startups Food deserts Smart packaging
The Blurring Boundaries of Foodservice
Home delivery Meal kit services Commissary Marketplaces
All fresh foods blog posts