Grocery stores are fortunate to work with some of the world’s best farmers and ranchers as supply chain partners to ensure that the products we have on the shelf are top quality. Today, on National Agriculture Day, FMI celebrates the entire supply chain from the ground to the refrigerator.

With a May 2017 compliance date quickly approaching, it seems that still the biggest question out there regarding the Foreign Supplier Verification Rule is ‘Who is the FSVP Importer?’ Although the rule defines FSVP importer, in many instances more than one party may meet the definition of the FSVP Importer. When there are several parties who can act as the FSVP importer things become more gray and the question becomes ‘Who should be the FSVP Importer?’ rather than ‘Who is the FSVP Importer?’

Today’s shoppers are looking for healthy, easy meal solutions, and since March is National Nutrition Month and National Frozen Food Month, it is an excellent time to take a fresh look at frozen foods. Frozen foods currently represent 6.2 percent of sales at food retail. When you consider that frozen foods can offer shoppers A) a nutritious option and B) a convenient meal solution, the opportunity to make frozen foods aisle part of your grocery store’s health and wellness offering is clear.

As an award winning and competition BBQ pitmaster, it’s always an exciting time for me at FMI when we release the Power of Meat report. In the 2017 report, the concept of “getting meat right” is evident in the way retailers and stores are focusing on the powerful meat category. As someone that is in the meat department in different channels almost every day, this focus is exciting!