FMI says it 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,” FMI 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, wherver 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, the organisation says. 

Board of Directors Chairman Joe Sheridan, president and COO of Wakefern Food Corp., said, “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.”

“As our customers change, so do our industry and our association to better serve and reflect their needs.”