Plant-based food products are no longer just a trend – they are here to stay in an industry that is growing incrementally each day. FMI’s Power of Meat 2019 report finds that plant-based meat alternatives sales increased 19.2% last year and account for $878 million in annual sales. Plant-based meat alternatives are just one example within an innovative and diverse pool of new products – dairy alternatives, frozen food products, snack foods, etc., also are expanding aggressively.

In the spirit of Giving Tuesday, I encourage you to donate to the FMI Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable organization that supports research and education in the areas of food safety, nutrition, and health. Here are some of our 2019 successes that your donations support.

Without a doubt, our industry is experiencing change and it’s coming at us faster than ever before, but we still have fundamental principles we maintain – hospitable things food retailers are noted for. These identifying factors are service principles we retain to be true to our core, but in the new world of online interactions, we are learning to apply them in new ways and learn what hospitality means to a new generation of food shoppers.

Before the 24-hour coverage of the presidential impeachment hearings, the majority of the news this fall surrounded e-cigarettes, their safety, and the many flavors in which they come.