Career Development

Dietetic professionals operate under a defined code of ethics, which requires use of science-based information and unbiased guidance. During this session, hear from a panel of retail dietitians on how they balance professional ethics with product and brand promotion. Panelists include Molly Hembree, MS, RD, LD, Retail Dietitian Coordinator at Kroger Health, Judy Chodirker, RD, MHSc, Loblaws in Canada, Yvette Waters, MS, RDN, CISSN, Nutritionist and Brand Influencer at Raley’s. Panel moderated by Judy Dodd, MS, RDN, LDN, former President of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

2020 proved to be a challenging year for retail dietitians as the pandemic shifted many priorities and the ways in which they had to communicate with shoppers - so what's next? Future proofing is all about anticipating what is likely to happen in the future and managing those events. This session will explore the future trends in grocery, e-commerce, emerging food categories and media and offer specifics on just how retail dietitians can use those to build their careers and power within their organizations.

The role of the retail dietitian is continuously evolving and the next decade will bring expanded opportunities for driving health and wellbeing at retail. This session will address how RDs can best prepare themselves to thrive professionally in the next era of healthy living at retail.

As the only organization committed specifically to the career development of dietitians working in the retail environment, this topic was a key focus of the RDBA Virtual Experience held earlier this month. Recordings of three sessions designed to help retail RDs advance their careers are now available to all RDBA members. Below are links to and summaries of each session.

Professional and personal life run in intertwined patterns these days, and during a casual conversation with friends recently, the topic of identifying high potential employees within telecommuting work environments was discussed.

If you haven't already registered for the RDBA Virtual Experience May 4-6 I'd like to urge you to do that today - and here's why. 

Year after year, consumer focus on health and well-being, and most recently the concept of Food as Medicine, remain top factors that are positively impacting sales and profits for food retailers, according to FMI’s Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2020 report.

Andrea Lutrell sounds off on how she’s become more efficient in working from home.

Amy Peterson from Coborn's sounds off on a new skill she mastered in 2020.

In 2020, the retail environment and the role of the retail dietitian has significantly changed. It remains to be seen which of these changes will be temporary or long-term. During this session at the RDBA Virtual Experience, RDBA Executive Director Annette Maggi, MS, RDN, LD, FAND addressed how dietitians can thrive in the current and post-pandemic retail environment.