IRI and FMI Unveil Top Five Trends in Fresh Foods at FMI Midwinter and Launch Educational Webinar Series

WHO:

Steve Ramsey, Executive Vice President, Practice Leader, IRI™

Sally Lyons Wyatt, Executive Vice President, Practice Leader, IRI

Rick Stein, Vice President, Fresh Foods, FMI

WHAT:

Consumers’ shopping and eating patterns are changing, and they are shopping the perimeter of the store for fresh products like never before. Since there is a huge opportunity for retailers to differentiate themselves in the marketplace by making the most of their perimeter aisles, IRI, FMI and FMI Fresh Executive Committee are joining forces to unveil the top five trends that will impact the fresh food industry in 2016 and beyond. FMI’s Rick Stein and IRI’s Steve Ramsey and Sally Lyons Wyatt will unveil the groundbreaking, fresh food research in a special “Coffee With” session titled “Top Trends in Fresh” at the FMI Midwinter Executive Conference. The presentation will take a high-level look at the top five fresh food trends that will drive perimeter store sales for retailers in 2016.

To take a deep dive into each of the top five trends, IRI and FMI also are hosting a series of monthly webinars that will kick off in late January and run through May. The first webinar, scheduled for Jan. 28, will focus on “Food Transparency.” For more information and to register for the free webinar, visit: https://engage.vevent.com/rt/informationresourcesinc~012816.

WHY:

The perimeter of the store, which includes fresh meat, deli, produce, bakery, seafood and prepared foods, can now make up to 40 percent of a store in some instances. Because the emphasis on the perimeter is changing the retailing landscape, IRI and FMI are taking a high-level look at the following trends that are making the biggest impact on the perimeter aisles through a combination of IRI data, consumer panel information and analysis, IRI solutions and consumer segmentations, secondary research and interviews with retail executives. These trends are moving fast and are continuously evolving, so retailers that adopt all five trends will propel growth in 2016 and years to come:

Food Transparency: Consumers want to know what’s in their food and where it comes from. Retailers that embrace food transparency grow sales up to 25 percent faster than their peers.

Convenience: Convenience is king in many categories. Across departments, items that meet consumers’ need for convenience are typically growing much faster than the category as a whole.

Connected Consumer:  A whopping 40 percent of consumers use digital tools before shopping the perimeter. With e-commerce sales forecasted to grow to 10 percent of total grocery sales by 2022, retailers can position themselves now to win shoppers and market share.

New Supply Chains: In response to the first three trends, retailers are creating new sources of supply through either owning their own farms or working with local farmers and sustainable suppliers that turn the traditional supply chain upside down.

Prepared Foods and Specialty: Retailers are going toe-to-toe with restaurants by offering such specialties as cheese shops, sushi bars and restaurant-style prepared meals. In fact, prepared foods are the third largest perimeter department, with $11 billion in sales and growing at 10 percent a year.

WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, 11-11:45 a.m. ET

WHERE:

FMI Midwinter Executive Conference

Fontainebleau Miami Beach

4441 Collins Ave.

Miami Beach, FL 33140

http://www.fmi.org/mw2016/overview

About the IRI Partner Ecosystem

IRI fundamentally believes that delivering differentiated growth for clients requires deep, highly integrated partnering with a variety of best-of-breed companies. As such, IRI works closely with a broad range of industry leaders to create innovative joint solutions, services and access to capabilities to help its clients more effectively compete in their various markets and exceed their growth objectives. IRI is committed to its partnership philosophy and continues to actively enhance its ecosystem of partners through alliances, joint ventures, acquisitions and affiliations. The IRI Partner Ecosystem includes such companies as BlueKai (an Oracle company), The Boston Consulting Group, comScore, Datalogix (an Oracle company), Experian, GfK, Gigwalk, GuestMetrics, Ipsos, Kantar, MasterCard Advisors, MaxPoint, Millward Brown Digital, Mu Sigma, Oracle Social Cloud, Rentrak, SPINS, Univision and others.

About IRI

IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers and media companies grow their businesses. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers and deliver market-leading growth. A confluence of major external events—a revolution in consumer buying, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and automated consumer activation—is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. Ensure your business can leverage data at www.iriworldwide.com.

About FMI

Food Marketing Institute proudly advocates on behalf of the food retail industry. FMI’s U.S. members operate nearly 40,000 retail food stores and 25,000 pharmacies, representing a combined annual sales volume of almost $770 billion. Through programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education and industry relations, FMI offers resources and provides valuable benefits to more than 1,225 food retail and wholesale member companies in the United States and around the world. FMI membership covers the spectrum of diverse venues where food is sold, including single-owner grocery stores, large multi-store supermarket chains and mixed retail stores. For more information, visit www.fmi.org, and for information regarding the FMI foundation, visit www.fmifoundation.org.  

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IRI Contact:

Shelley Hughes

E-mail: Shelley.Hughes@IRIworldwide.com

Phone: +1 312.474.3675

FMI Contact:

Heather Garlich

E-mail: media@fmi.org