FMI - OMEGA - West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association

Each year at FMI, we take a moment to recognize food retailers and the innovation they bring to acts of kindness. It’s my pleasure to announce this year’s winners of recognition we call Grocers Doing Good in their Neighborhoods. Our Community Outreach Awards recognize the usually unmentioned contributions grocers make to enhance the communities they serve.

Today’s retailers need a strong omnichannel strategy in place to meet rapidly changing consumer needs resulting from the pandemic. As more people choose to take advantage of ecommerce for delivery of their essential food items, retailers must ensure that they have forecasting and replenishment capabilities that give them end-to-end supply chain visibility.

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, many companies temporarily put at least some private brand product innovation on hold to address the crisis. More recently, we’re starting to see a renewed commitment to innovation. Food retailers saw the pandemic generate new consumer trial of private brands, and many consumers liked what they tried.

Consider how technology experimentation has played out in the food retail industry. In recent years, retailers have made progress in fits and starts, going after use cases ranging from better customer experience to improved efficiency. Experimentation eventually led to investments.

We continue to experience a convergence of challenges in this country – the COVID-19 pandemic; a historic hurricane and fire season; economic distress; and heightened political and social expression – all of which are influencing changes in the way the public eats and shops.