The Arlington, Virginia-headquartered Food Marketing Institute on January 21 launched a renewed brand identity as FMI – the Food Industry Association, reflecting its strategy to more broadly represent the food marketplace and embrace a more interconnected supply chain. FMI views retail as the heart of the food industry and recently expanded its membership in response to retailers’ needs, helping them facilitate access and connectivity with suppliers and other business partners.
“FMI provides the most productive forum for connecting and holding constructive dialogue across the food industry,” President and CEO Leslie Sarasin remarked on the association’s announcement regarding a renewed focus. “Driven by consumer relevance, we are in the business of food, wherever it is bought, sold or produced, and we are well-positioned to represent everything in the shopping basket – and work closely with every participant in the marketplace.”
This new food marketplace requires an expanded aperture to include the array of experiences of today’s grocery shopper, and so too will the FMI brand. Board of Directors Chairman Joe Sheridan, president and chief operating officer of Keasbey, New Jersey-headquartered Wakefern Food Corp., commented: “Over the last two years, we’ve inspired a recommitment, a renewal of vows among the FMI membership. We’ve even changed who can be a member in the association as a logical step in a direction we’ve been traveling for years, offering greater parity between retailers and their product supplier partner members at the board of directors level.”
He continued: “As our customers change, so do our industry and our association to better serve and reflect their needs.”
FMI maintains its position in the following strategic areas:
Public Policy Effectiveness
The trade association plays a pivotal role in serving as the central voice of the food industry, leading the charge with legislative and regulatory bodies to bring attention and make progress on the issues that affect its members. FMI has a long track record of success, from affecting legislative bills to arguing for causes at the highest level, including the US Supreme Court.
Commitment to Issues that Matter
FMI tackles the issues that matter most to its members, helping illuminate current priorities and identify the next ones on the horizon. It employs thought leaders on mission-critical areas for the industry, such as food safety, and has the expertise and focus to serve as a go-to source for thinking, information and education.
Forum for High-impact Industry Dialogue
FMI has a long-standing, close relationship with senior executives at the leading food industry companies, as well as other trade associations, and provides a powerful forum for bringing the right industry participants together to share best practices, problem-solve and organize for results.
Dedication to Consumer and Operational Insights
FMI is regarded as the foremost thought-leader in consumer and operations research. For decades, it has acknowledged and respected the role of the shopper. It envisions the future for both a physical and digital shelf where an omnichannel shopper will be the ultimate influencer in how the food industry does business.
FMI came into being more than 40 years ago when the Super Market Institute and the National Association of Food Chains in the United States merged. Since 1977, it has established a brand equity that resonates with the greater food supply. FMI’s new identity points to a more modern and inclusive strategy for the association to enhance the industry’s supply chain and support the work of feeding families and enriching their lives.
Sarasin noted: “As Sidney Rabb, chairman of the board for the Super Market Institute and CEO of Stop & Shop said in 1949, ‘The essence of all my messages as president . . . can be reduced to one short sentence: Let us lead the way in forging ahead together that there may be more for all.’ There are no truer words to demonstrate respect for our history and the integrity of FMI as the food industry association.”
