WASHINGTON, DC — November 19, 2001 — In a supermarket industry first, Superjobmarket.com announced today the launch of the Idea Exchange, an Internet forum that food retailers and distributors worldwide can use to share solutions to human resource challenges.

The versatile e-service allows users to join discussions or debates in progress, can share ideas with all users or engage in e-mail discussions with individuals. Participants can introduce topics and program the service to automatically e-mail discussions to them when key words appear.

“The Idea Exchange will be entirely user-driven,” said Diana Greenwald, senior site manager for Superjobmarket.com, an award-winning Internet recruiting service developed by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). “As participation grows, we expect the service to offer forums on a wide range topics, such as recruiting, retaining and training workers; improving morale; helping employees cope with trauma; and how to make the best use of technology. The topics are virtually limitless given how important human resources are in all food retail and distribution operations.

“The most popular sessions at educational conferences are often the highly interactive forums that allow industry executives to learn from their peers. The Idea Exchange offers, in effect, ongoing conferences on the top-of-mind subjects for human resource executives everywhere.

“Moreover, it’s free and as easy to use as surfing the Internet and sending e-mails.”

The exchange was launched with a virtual conference on addressing employee concerns in the post-September 11 world. This conference featured three sessions: employee relations, emergency preparedness and crisis relief efforts.

Participants can enter the Idea Exchange through the “Employer” section of Superjobmarket.com. They need only to register with a name, password and e-mail address. It is designed for anyone in the food retail and wholesale industry with human resource responsibilities.

FMI launched Superjobmarket.com in May 2000 to provide the industry an Internet recruiting portal and service to promote careers in food retailing and wholesaling. Food Distributors International and the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors joined the service as partners a year later.

Superjobmarket.com has formed alliances with 11 of the most frequently used Web-based career search engines: Actijob.com, BlueSkySearch.com, Careerjournal.com, CareerOwl.ca, DiversityLink.com, JobsInLogistics.com, Looking2hire.com, MonsterTRAK, RxCareerCenter.com, Tech-engine.com, and Transition Assistance Online. More than four million job seekers visited Superjobmarket.com’s alliance partner sites per month.

Superjobmarket.com received the 2001 Award for Publication Excellence (APEX) in the category of Web and Intranet design.

For more information, visit the Web site (www.superjobmarket.com) or contact Diana Greenwald by telephone (202-220-0808) or e-mail (dgreenwald@fmi.org).