Retail Industry Insights

Change, evolution, progress. Powerful words. It’s been said that failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. The nutrition industry is especially at risk of this. Why? Because nutrition is inherently personal.

It’s no secret that affordable, quality fresh fruits and vegetables are powerful foods, essential to  well-balancedeating habits. 

Food retailers understand that change and disruption are part of business. Today, however, retailers have an added challenge of dealing with disruptions that are happening at an unprecedented speed. Through the Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) Emerging Issues Initiative, leaders across the industry have identified those issues that have the greatest potential to affect the food industry in the next three to five years.

October is National Pork Month and with fall flavors in full swing, it’s the perfect time for your shoppers to add nutrient-rich pork to their shopping list. 

Retailers that invest in developing a credible brand that delivers the taste, quality and health attributes that consumers demand will have huge upside opportunities to grow share. A recent report from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Delivering Health & Wellness with Private Brands, illustrates current best practices and future opportunities for incorporating positive nutritional attributes and wellness messaging into private brand programs, and provides the resources and guidance for ensuring product offerings and educational resources meet the needs of today’s health conscious shoppers. Report highlights include:

With limited land available for agriculture as well as heightened interest in conserving nature resources like water, new types of agriculture – both plant and animal – are emerging.  As consumers become more savvy in their knowledge of these options, retailers are increasing product offerings from new agriculture methodologies. Today’s article explores one of these methodologies – aquaponics.

The nation’s biggest-selling plant-based fall foods – nuts, apples, pumpkins, cranberries and cranberry sauce - have the nutrition, distinctive tastes, and close association with special days such as Halloween and Thanksgiving to be tabletop perennials.  Yet customer demand for each varies widely during the 12 weeks ending at Thanksgiving: dollar sales, scale and fresh vs. packaged splits move to their own distinct weekly rhythms, as revealed by Nielsen data.

Produce may be the showpiece department of food retailers, but when it comes to spice sales in the fall season, the dry grocery aisle is consumers’ go-to place to buy.  Spice dollar sales there far outpace fresh spice sales from the produce department.

Next time you stroll through the product department, take a few minutes to see if you can spot any unbranded produce. Yes, we said unbranded because in today’s world, it can be difficult to spot a piece of produce that is not directly connected with a brand. 

A growing body of science continues to uncover the properties in food that can promote health. Whether it’s beta-glucan in oats, antioxidants in berries, probiotics in certain fermented foods, or omega-3s in fish, more people are looking to maximize the nutrition they get from food to help support their healthy lifestyle.