FMI - OMEGA - West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association

In hindsight, it’s interesting how food retailers described their ecommerce sophistication a year ago in the FMI Food Retailing Industry Speaks report. Only 4% of responding companies with online sales considered themselves to be very sophisticated in selling or marketing products to consumers online. Slightly over half described their organizations as somewhat sophisticated, and about a third said “not very.”

A number of misconceptions regarding grocery prices regularly permeate both the news and our water cooler conversations. These are due to a combination of outdated ideas that should have been put to rest long ago and high profile “examples” that are not representative of how the industry as a whole operates on a daily basis.

The number of partners and stakeholders continues to grow and the creativity with which they have embraced and shared the good news of family meals is yielding incredible results. I am pleased to share that we’ve made another leap, and in 2020, 33% of the nation said they had a firsthand encounter with National Family Meals Month. So, in six years our reach has expanded three-fold.

The most recent The Food Retailing Industry Speaks report identifies a striking similarity between ”A Tale of Two Cities” and a tale of two years, 2019 and 2020, for the food industry. Both relay the story of how stark change and challenging times can be approached in very different ways and how opportunity can still be recognized, even when it appears to be hiding in the shadows.

It’s these acts of goodwill that are in the very fabric of a food retailer’s being. Grocers strengthen their communities with programs designed to keep kids busy and engaged; offer useful information about nutrition and health; and assist in bringing meals to those in underserved areas. Nowadays, these acts of goodwill are essential to local communities and make a bigger difference than ever before.