Speaks Report Cover 2019

What is the state of the food retail industry?

FMI's 71st annual The Food Retailing Industry Speaks report provides the food retail industry with important operational and financial benchmarks as well as insights into strategic and tactical decisions. 

Download Report

A Look at 2019 and The Early Part of 2020

The latest Speaks report finds that in 2019 the food retail industry saw strong operational performance, which helped the industry face challenges in 2020. At the same time, outside forces including trade, credit/debit card interchange fees and health care costs impacted food retailers and kept profit margins steady. 
Calendar Illustrations

Key Take-A-Ways

The groundwork laid in 2019 allowed the food retail industry to be nimble in 2020 when grocery stores faced unprecedented demand and the supply chain was dramatically disrupted.

Wise Investments

speaks dollar

In 2019, 67% of retailers experimented with their ecommerce strategies and 75% added technologies to improve efficiencies. The capabilities supported responses during the crisis period.

See More

Ecommerce Advances

ecommerce speaks

The vast majority of retailers have added more staff to handle online fulfillment, while some
allocated more associates for delivery of online orders.

See More

Technology Experiments

technology speaks

Food retailers of all sizes have been advancing their already growing technology investments for ecommerce, customer experience, and efficiency.

See More

Social Responsibly

speaks social responsibility

Most food retailers now have quantifiable goals for energy use reduction, food waste reduction, and diversity in hiring.

See More

Supporting Associate

people speaks

Food retailers focused on a range of benefits for associates — including higher compensation, bonuses, flextime, training/skills development, employee wellness programs, education programs and hiring/retention incentives.

See More

Meal Solutions

meal speaks

As shoppers increased their need for home meal solutions, food retailers pulled out all the stops to provide the widest range of options.

See More

The Food Retail Industry Speaks, What Are They Saying?

On-Demand Learning

This discussion shares insights from the latest Speaks report and is hosted by FMI President and CEO Leslie Sarasin along with:
  • Mark Baum, Chief Collaboration Officer & Senior Vice President, Industry Relations.
  • Jennifer Hatcher, Chief Public Policy Officer & Senior Vice President, Government Relations.
  • Dr. Hilary Thesmar, Chief Food & Product Safety Officer & Senior Vice President, Food Safety Programs.
Learn More

Our Take on Speaks

Blog posts from FMI subject matter experts looking at the latest report findings

The Most Important Communications Tool During COVID-19: Transparency

Nov 30, 2020
Every year in The Food Retailing Industry Speaks report we ask food retailers about their communications channels/methods and which they find to be most effective. In a typical year I’d tell you which social media channels food retailers are finding ...

Industry Contributions to Health and Well-being

Nov 24, 2020
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 ...

New Twists on Retail Differentiation Strategies

Nov 20, 2020
Food retailers have been adapting their product and service differentiation strategies. In 2019, they pushed the boundaries to enhance strategies in specific areas. Then, in the pandemic period, they have pivoted on some strategies to accommodate ...

© 2021 FMI. All rights reserved.

2345 Crystal Drive, Suite 800, Arlington, VA 22202 | phone: 202-452-8444 | fax: 202-429-4519

Website design by Matrix Group International, Inc. ®

Sign Up for the FMI_dailyLead_2020

FREE daily briefing on top stories in food retailing.

Sign up