Arguably, nothing registers the changes confronting the industry better than the Worry Index feature in The Food Retailing Industry Speaks (Speaks) research. Comparing and contrasting the worry index lists from various years provides a real sense of what is changing, what is staying the same, what may be shifting in intensity or in some cases what appears to be remaining the same, but in truth, is different because the context has changed.

In 2017, FMI expects to sift through some 5,000 state bills of relevance to the grocery industry. To help our members wade through this yearly tsunami of bills, coupled with political changes, FMI releases the State Legislative Outlook every January.

The planning committee for the Annual Meat Conference, February 19 – 21 in Dallas, TX, has developed a session lineup that provides robust insight into consumer trends and behavior. After all, when you better understand consumer motivations, you can try and lead instead of follow.

The Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI), a division of FMI, will soon launch its Retail/Wholesale Grocery Code, the newest certification program from SQFI. The program was developed to provide retailer and wholesaler organizations with the requirements to achieve accredited certification and creates a 365-degree uniform food safety management system across the retail and wholesale food industry.