The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Wants To Know, How Are You Inspiring Families to Prepare and Share More Meals At Home?
By FMI Vice President, Health & Wellness and FMI Foundation Executive Director Cathy Polley, RPh
Grocery shoppers, especially busy parents, are hungry for help in the kitchen. Research from FMI indicates that Americans want to share more meals at home, but that meal planning and preparation remain seemingly insurmountable tasks (U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2014). With 84 percent of grocers promoting communal eating in some way (2014 Report on Retailer Contributions to Health and Wellness, FMI), grocers repeatedly demonstrate their commitment to promoting family meals and providing mealtime solutions. As a trusted ally for shoppers, retail RDs are in the unique position to help grocers effect change and bring mealtime back home to the family table.
This year, FMI and the FMI Foundation are rallying the food retail industry together around a family meals movement to encourage families nationwide to prepare and share one more meal at home per week. As part of National Family Meals Month™ and our ongoing commitment to promoting the benefits of family meals, the Foundation proudly recognizes FMI members who are helping customers make family mealtime a regular occasion. The Foundation’s Gold Plate Awards, now in their third year, honor these outstanding programs.
So if you’ve found creative ways to help your shoppers overcome hurdles and fit in more family meals at home, we want to honor you with a 2015 Gold Plate Award. You’ve already done the hard work of building a successful family meals program, so how about winning some praise from your peers and getting industrywide recognition for your success? Entering your program for a chance to win is as simple as completing a brief nomination form and emailing it, along with a short list of supporting information, to Megan Tinklepaugh at mtinklepaugh@fmi.org before July 31, 2015.
The Foundation will present four winning companies with Gold Plate Awards during National Family Meals Month™ at a celebratory event in Washington, D.C. this September. To honor our breadth of membership, Gold Plate Awards are presented in four distinct categories. Three of these categories honor FMI retail members and are divided according to operation size. The fourth category, new in 2015, spotlights FMI associate members who have partnered with grocers to promote family meal solutions at retail. The call for nominations is already out, and the July 31st deadline is fast approaching so don’t delay!
*Nomination form and accompanying nomination guidelines are available online at www.fmifamilymeals.com/fmi-gold-plate-award. To enter, email a completed nomination form and accompanying documents to Megan Tinklepaugh, FMI, Manager, Health & Wellness at mtinklepaugh@fmi.org.
