The Safe Quality Food Institute, a division of FMI – The Food Industry Association, has announced Joe Wieland and Karen Vanegas as recipients of the 2022 SQF Excellence Awards at SQF Unites in Orlando, Florida. Wieland was recognized with the Excellence in SQF Auditing Award while Vanegas received the Excellence in SQF Practitioner Leadership Award. Excellence in SQF Auditing award The […]
Category: National
Posted inSnacks Brands, National
Voortman Cookies Launches Limited-Edition Holiday Flavors
Burlington, Ontario-based Voortman has launched holiday-inspired wafers and cookies made with real ingredients. The signature seasonal treats, including two new flavors, are rolling out across the U.S. and Canada and will be available in stores for a limited time. The Voortman items hitting U.S. store shelves this holiday season are: Candy Cane Flavored Wafers: Cool peppermint-flavored crème […]
Posted inMerchandising News, National, Nonfood Items
Receipt Analysis Shows Consumer Shopping Patterns
Veryfi, using artificial intelligence technology to transform documents into structured data, analyzed the purchase receipts of Kraft Heinz and Hormel Foods goods to discern consumer shopping patterns. This latest installment of Veryfi Insights analyzes supermarket shopper receipt data to examine the frequency of line items in all receipts containing at least one item in a long list […]
Posted inAssociation News, National
IRI Shares Upcoming Holiday Report Discussing Inflation, Sales
IRI has updated its Thanksgiving Tracker, showing the latest year-over-year inflation figures by category and examining the historical sales by category in the runup to the holiday. This year, consumers are concerned about inflation, but not worried about shopping earlier to spread out the expense. Thanksgiving is the second-largest holiday in terms of sales uplift […]
Posted inThe Kroger Co., Albertsons, Amazon Fresh, Association News, Guest Contributors, National, Whole Foods
When The Big Get Bigger: Reflecting On Albertsons-Kroger Merger
The biggest recent news in our industry was the announcement that Albertsons and Kroger plan to merge. This isn’t the first time that bigger players have decided to combine forces with an aim to create leverage and scale. Those terms are code for anticipated better pricing from suppliers, reducing costs in infrastructure, converting to common […]
Posted inOnline Grocery Technology, National
Grocery Chains Add Power Of Preparedness To Worker Training
FMI – The Food Industry Association and The Power of Preparedness, a Michigan-based online training platform specializing in active shooter preparedness and de-escalation techniques, has announced partnerships with three U.S. food retail chains: Dierbergs Markets, Heinen’s Grocery Store and Schnucks Markets. With the introduction of TPOP training, management and employees at these Midwest chains are receiving customized […]
Posted inAssociation News, National
Prices Remain Above Pre-Pandemic Levels As Rail Strike Looms
The Consumer Brands Association cautioned that the wholesale prices in the Bureau of Labor Statistics readout show ongoing production cost pressures for consumer packaged goods manufacturers. The October Producer Price Index rose 8 percent over last year and 0.2 percent since September. The CPG industry still faces steep prices for commodities that remain above overall […]
Posted inAssociation News, National
NGA: FDA’s Traceability Rule Will Impact Smaller Grocers
The National Grocers Association has responded to the final ruling on the proposed U.S. FDA’s rule, “Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods.” The rule aims to establish additional traceability recordkeeping requirements for persons who manufacture, process, pack or hold foods the FDA has designated for inclusion on the Food Traceability List. Specifically, the […]