FMI, GMDC Team for HBW Conference

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Global Market Development Center (GMDC) will join forces to offer a comprehensive health, beauty and wellness conference in 2013. The upcoming event was revealed at FMI’s Health and Wellness Conference in Orlando, Fla.

At the conference, slated for May 31 through June 4, 2013, at the JW Marriott Hill Country in San Antonio, food retailers and wholesalers, health and beauty suppliers, pharmacists, dietitians and other health-related professionals will explore solutions to meet the broad spectrum of consumer needs in this area.

“Consumers embracing the journey of a healthier lifestyle are looking for assistance in pulling together all the various pieces – health, food and nutrition, exercise and appearance – in a way that feels holistically right to them,” noted Cathy Polley, VP for health and wellness at Arlington, Va.-based FMI and executive director of the FMI Foundation. “Combining the resources of our two associations means we can offer food retailers and wholesalers a stronger, more integrated conference; one that will help them tell a cohesive health-and-wellness story resonating up and down every single aisle of the supermarket.”

“Combining education and resources that wed food and pharmacy, cosmetics and cooking, eating and exercise will result in a cohesive retail experience encouraging a healthier America,” added Dave McConnell, president and CEO of Colorado Springs, Colo.-based GMDC. “As the public perception of health and wellness expands, retailer resources must synergistically connect across a spectrum of services and provide consumers unified guidance whether they are shopping in cosmetics, the produce department or in the pharmacy.”