FMI - OMEGA - West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association

The genius of the Wizard of Oz story lies in its ability to creatively convey a simple, but hard truth about human nature; we frequently go wishing for miracle solutions to our problems, when the answers we seek are already in our possession. Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and even Dorothy already had the heart, the courage, the intelligence, and the ability to return home that they were requesting of a charlatan. In the end, that self-professed good man, but very bad wizard did help solve their problems, but only by helping them realize they already had what they needed.

According to data from ReFED and Feeding America, the number of Americans struggling with hunger since the COVID-19 pandemic has risen from 40 million to a staggering 54 million people.

Food safety training and certification has been established as a key activity to reduce the risk of preventable foodborne illness.

Today’s shoppers bring a broad and sophisticated range of criteria with them when making their food shopping decisions. While there still remain occasions and situations where brand is the prime driver (I would never consider any ketchup other than Heinz), the focus solely on brand per se is vanishing in favor of a focus on the product itself and its attributes as the definer of quality.

For five long months, we have all been experiencing the unprecedented realities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the frustrating truths of supply and the dramatically increased demand for groceries. Once ingrained grocery shopping habits have been forced to evolve to some new behaviors.