Making Lemonade Out of a Lemon of a Year

Promoting and Advancing Petroleum Marketing, Retail Grocery, and Convenience Stores in West Virginia

Driving Local Business and Community Growth Across West Virginia

Our Purpose and Commitment

OMEGA is a West Virginia-based organization dedicated to supporting and advancing the business interests of the state’s petroleum marketing, retail grocery, and convenience store industries.

As a network of over 225 locally owned businesses, OMEGA actively promotes cooperation, advocates for favorable legislation, and provides education and resources to its members. With over 50,000 employees, OMEGA members significantly contribute to the state’s economy, generating more than 10% of all state taxes and supporting local communities through scholarships, charitable donations, and civic involvement.

OMEGA is committed to fostering industry growth while serving West Virginians with essential services like fuel, food, and convenience.

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Join a Community that Champions, Connects, and Elevates!

Your Essential Connection in West Virginia

OMEGA offers three types of membership: Convenience Store Members, Petroleum Marketer Members, and Grocer Members, all of which play a vital role in providing fuel, food, and essentials across West Virginia. As a liaison with state and national agencies, OMEGA works closely with organizations like NACS, PMAA, FMI, and the N.G.A. to advocate on behalf of its members.

We keep members informed through newsletters, legislative updates, an online resource hub, and educational seminars. Additional member benefits include access to the Encova Workers’ Compensation Discount Program and participation in our annual Trade Expo and fundraising efforts for children’s charities. OMEGA is here to support, advocate, and enhance the success of our industry members.

Gaining new insights and leveraging resources can help you better navigate such changes while strengthening and making connections. From our vantage point at FMI, we can share some key learnings and next steps to bringing better produce business to fruition for the rest of 2020 and beyond.

The following article originally appear in the June, 2020 <a href="https://www.producebusiness.com/">Produce Business</a> edition. <div class="mg-image--circular" style="float: right; margin: 10px;"><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/photos-for-staff-use/produce/20171205-fmi-store-shoot-0022_ed1c7a1f0324aa67249237ff0000c12749.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=1df786e_2" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="20171205-FMI-Store Shoot-0022_ed" title="20171205-FMI-Store Shoot-0022_ed" /></div> By Rick Stein, Vice President, Fresh Foods, FMI This year has certainly brought a lot of new understandings. One lesson we’ve learned – often painfully – is the power of connections. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, connections were stretched and sometimes broken in the food supply chain. While some producers and growers were faced with excess product due to closings in the foodservice industry, there were shortages in various retail segments. Those who transport and distribute goods also had their routines upended. As things have been out of whack for those who provide, ship and sell produce, consumers also have changed their connections. From where they buy products to how they are eating, most people are doing things differently. Add to the pandemic other global and national upheavals, and you have a marketplace in which connecting with one another and with consumers is more important than ever. I think it’s safe to say that we’ll look back at this year as a pivotal point of change. Gaining new insights and leveraging resources can help you better navigate such changes while strengthening and making connections. From our vantage point at FMI, we can share some key learnings and next steps to bringing better produce business to fruition for the rest of 2020 and beyond. <h5>Supply Side: A Good Match</h5> Early on in the COVID-19 outbreak, it became apparent that the stressed supply chain required a new and nimble way of providing and receiving goods, including produce items. On one hand, photos of rotting potatoes went viral. On the other hand, images of people lining up for food pantry lines as jobless rates skyrocketed were just as alarming. To respond to a supply and demand situation in great flux, FMI mobilized with software company The Seam to create a new <a href="https://supplychain.theseam.com/default.aspx">Food Industry Exchange</a>, a subscription-based digital platform that matches members around the country with suppliers and wholesalers in a secure, real-time and verified way. This new platform connects those in the supply chain who want to sell and buy products, including a wide variety of produce items. We facilitate the process through the platform, but once companies make the connection, we bow out and let them conduct independent transactions. As a result of the <a href="https://supplychain.theseam.com/default.aspx">Food Industry Exchange</a>, new relationships have been formed between previously unlinked members in the supply chain, like producers selling to retailers for the first time while their usual restaurant clients were shuttered. Whether or not the pandemic winds down or flares up again in the fall and winter, this platform is designed for the produce business of the future, as parties often seek new buyers and sellers for all kinds of reasons. <h5>Consumer Side: New Habits</h5> This year of challenge and change is also evident in consumers’ behavior. According to a <a href="https://www.fmi.org/our-research/research-reports/u-s-grocery-shopper-trends">U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends: COVID-19 Tracker</a> report conducted by The Hartman Group and released by FMI, an overwhelming majority of U.S. consumers expect some of their pandemic shopping habits to continue even as the acute crises abates. One of those noteworthy habits is consumers’ intention to cook more frequently. Almost half of adults (49%) expect to prepare meals more often and 38% say they think they will eat out less often. At the same time, consumers are aware of supply chain disruptions. Although there were fewer reported out-of-stock experiences in stores in early May compared to late March and early April, 59% of consumers expressed concern about finding specific items they need and 49% said they are worried about the supply chain as a whole. By finding new avenues for growth with a digital platform that shores up the overall supply chain and working with food retailers to provide consumers with fresh, interesting products to enjoy and use at home, those in the produce industry can bolster their own connections as we all move into its second – and hopefully calmer – half of the year.

Read full article on FMI

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Supporting West Virginia Communities

OMEGA members play a vital role in West Virginia, supporting communities through substantial tax contributions and a wide-reaching presence across the state. With over 55% of the population living in border counties, our members are dedicated to serving both local and regional needs. Beyond business, we’re proud to give back, having contributed over $3.1 million to children’s charities since 2003, reflecting our commitment to making a positive difference.