Three Dynamic Female Leaders Shape the Food Retail Industry’s Professional Development Event

Nooyi, Morrison and Sarasin Address the Importance of Perspective at Food Marketing Institute Conference

ARLINGTON, VA – With workforce development serving as one of the food retail industry’s key emerging issues, the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) today announced programming for the industry’s most significant professional development conference, FMI Future Leaders eXperience. The conference will feature PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi, Campbell Soup Company’s Denise Morrison and FMI’s Leslie Sarasin among other influential speakers and storytellers.  

Future Leaders eXperience serves as a leadership laboratory that actively engages high-potential employees in honing their leadership and management skills through team-based problem solving and exposure to a broad understanding of the food retail industry. These three dynamic, female business leaders will help shape the conference agenda and share their own perspectives on Future Leaders’ key themes: better understanding the industry; exploring one’s role in the business; connecting with teams; and delivering results.

Indra Nooyi has been Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies, since 2006. Almost immediately after taking over the top job, she implemented a governing philosophy the company calls “Performance with Purpose.” “Performance with Purpose” is PepsiCo’s commitment to delivering sustained, top-tier financial results, while being responsive to the needs of the world around us. Under Nooyi’s leadership, the company is working to transform its product portfolio to include more nutritious options, curb its environmental impact, and lift up its employees and communities around the world.

Denise Morrison, president and CEO, Campbell Soup Company, serves as co-chair of this year’s event with Russell T. (Tres) Lund III, Chairman and CEO of Lunds & Byerlys. Morrison is well regarded by the food retail industry for her contributions as a business partner in the greater supply chain, but she is most recently regarded for reshaping Campbell’s portfolio toward the faster-growing spaces of health and well-being and snacking. FMI honored Morrison with the Albers Award in 2014, saying, “She invests in her staff, her business partners and the betterment of the food chain through holistic contributions and innovative products.”

FMI President and CEO Leslie Sarasin will draw upon her personal experience as a leader in food industry associations to place current workforce challenges in a broader historical context. By interviewing a panel of future industry leaders, she will identify the path forward for the marketplace and its emerging workforce needs.

Sarasin commented on the learning-lab-inspired event, saying, “We expect nearly 40 food retail and consumer goods companies to bring their most promising team members to learn and network with each other and hear insights from inspirational leaders who have already succeeded in their own journeys. We can all lead with purpose and look to each other for guidance and support.”