Facilitator: David Fikes, FMI
FMI has long supported U.S. food retailers through annual surveys of shopper behaviors and attitudes. FMI’s U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends will share with attendees a cultural lens with interviews of Americans in their homes and while shopping, offering an ethnographic view into U.S. food consumption.  

Sponsor Spotlight: TRACEONE; Don Low, Solutions Consultant

“Don Low is currently a solutions consultant for Trace One supporting their PLM and Collaborative Business Network solutions. He has over 10 years’ experience working with some of the largest grocery retailers in the USA and EU responsible for ensuring they succeed in their private label product development, artwork, and quality assurance programs.”

Guest Speaker: Caitlin Boon, Associate Commissioner for Food Policy and Response

As consumer demand more innovation, transparency, and safe food supply chain, FDA is working to respond with contemporary updates to traceability, standards of identity, and claims to product innovation.

Caitlin S. Boon, PhD, is the Associate Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  In this role, she serves as advisor to the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response on a variety of food safety activities, including implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and other high priority food safety policy development activities, outbreak response, and recall activities.  She also plays a key role in planning the New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative that will leverage technology, data analytics and other tools to build on the prevention-oriented framework provided by FSMA and strengthen FDA’s ability to address food safety concerns.

Previously, Dr. Boon was the Senior Science Advisor to the Chief of Staff, serving as a principal advisor and consultant to the Commissioner and the Chief of Staff on scientific and policy matters relating to food safety, nutrition, and veterinary medicine.  Prior to this role, she held several positions in other parts of FDA, including the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and the Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine.  During her career, Dr. Boon also held positions as a Health Policy Advisor to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and as a study director at National Academies in the Institute of Medicine (IOM).

Dr. Boon received undergraduate degrees in Food Science and Poultry Science from North Carolina State University, completed a master’s degree in Food Policy at City University London while on a Fulbright grant to the United Kingdom, and received a doctorate in Food Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  

Facilitator: Doug Baker, FMI
Private Brand owners and by extension, their manufacturing partners are feeling the effects of change at an unprecedented pace. In this series; Power of Private Brands, FMI had a conversation with private brand leaders across the industry to learn how they’re facing this change, from increased demand on both the buy and sell, to the largest opportunities and biggest threats to how trading partner relations have evolved or still need to evolve.    

Facilitator: Mark McKeown, IRI
Private Brands are no stranger to consumer change and disruption. Through FMI’s Power of Private Brands series, with the help of consumers and facilitated by IRI, we’ll look at key consumer trends, perceptions, and indicators driving consumer awareness, acceptance, and preferences.

Facilitator:  J.J. Jones, Center for Food Integrity

Shoppers want to feel more connected to their food and seek ways to know the story behind the products they purchase.   Transparency -having clear accurate and accessible product information available to the customer – builds trust, provides moments of connection, and helps make the shopping experience personal. As such, it is a powerful product differentiator for private brands, enabling you to tell a compelling story that connects with a shopper’s values. This session will explore the principles of transparency and the elements that consumers consider most vital.

Session Facilitator: Tom Cosgrove, Senior Manager, Program and Development, FMI Foundation/Health & Wellness, and John Evans, Director Private Brands, Weis Markets

September is National Family Meals Month. Researchers, health experts, and communities across American are joining the movement to commit to one more meal at home per week every September. This session will look at how retailers have put private brands at the center of the plate and family table.

Location: Chesapeake View

While you’re away from home, join the FMI Foundation and FMI Private Brand Leadership to celebrate a meal with your industry family.

Guest Speaker: David Taylor, Solutions 4 Retail Brands

Grocery retail is in the midst of an unforgiving revolution that presents a myriad of challenges for traditional retailers and manufacturers. Private Brands provide retailers maximum strategic and tactical leverage to create a competitive advantage through remarkable differentiated product offerings, digital innovations in packaging and product development, to maximizing return on investment for space and supply chain by only filling it with products that serve a purpose for the consumer. David will walk you through new survey research bench marking current trading partner engagement at a time when it is so important.

Guest Speaker: Jennifer Hatcher, Andy Harig, FMI Government Relations

The political landscape in the United States has been at the center of many discussions and debates. Hear from FMI how current and future elections could impact how legislation, regulation, and agency activities could be altered if there were a flip in the balance of power.

Guest Speaker/s: Matthew Banks, Associate Director, Navigant

Much of the world is moving forward to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and the transition to lower GHG emissions is gaining momentum even as it lags the pace and scale required. More than 600 companies globally, including over 100 U.S-based Fortune 500 companies, have committed to science-based targets (SBTs) to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In the U.S., business action on climate change has accelerated and yet, in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must dramatically quicken the pace and scale of action required to achieve a sustainable future. This session will highlight the current atmosphere, successes, challenges, and set the stage for what’s next.

Speakers:
Lynn Dyer, President, Foodservice Packaging Institute
Patrick Krieger, Assistant Director, Regulatory and Technical Affairs, Plastics Industry Association

Consumers are evaluating the use of single-use plastics in their daily lives and pressuring brands and their retailers to help them reduce the volume of packaging waste to keep it out of the environment. Brands are responding with new packaging types, more recycled content and alternate materials, which in turn brings a new world of considerations to the discussion.  What are the true lifecycle impacts of the materials in our packaging? How will packaging changes affect food waste? What systems and infrastructure exist to process the volumes and variety of our packaging waste stream? What systems are needed for a more circular approach and how should private brands be thinking and acting to balance all of the competing needs in the business?

Lynn Dyer is president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute, the trade association for the North American foodservice packaging industry. At FPI, she advocates for the interests of the industry and champions its efforts to expand recycling and composting of foodservice packaging. Prior to joining FPI in 1998, Lynn worked with the European Food Service & Packaging Association (now Pack2Go Europe) in Brussels, Belgium. Lynn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Richmond.

Patrick Krieger is the Assistant Director of Regulatory and Technical Affairs at the Plastics Industry Association. He joined the Plastics Industry Association in March 2015. His responsibilities include managing the activities of the Bioplastics division and Organic Peroxide Producers Safety division, which includes coordinating the committee work, planning and holding meetings, and presenting at industry events.

Facilitator: Andy Harig, FMI & Marjorie DePuy, FMI

Are private brands uniquely challenged or positioned to meet the consumers demand related to plastics waste? To speak with a more clear voice for the private brand industry, this session will highlight key considerations and feedback for FMI to better represent our members.