Bob Palmer, CEO, C&S Wholesale Grocers
In her president’s report to the board, Sarasin noted that the association continues to re-evaluate member expectations, and the ways that industry participants want to engage with FMI, to advance the association’s central mission to advocate, collaborate and educate while supporting the food industry’s efforts to feed families and improve lives.
In this vein, FMI recruited 12 diverse retail members to join the association this year: Bodega Latina Corp., Cantoro Italian Market, Dom’s Kitchen and Market, Fresh Farms Market, Good Ranchers, Jackson Mitchell Holdings Inc., Plum Market, Ranchr Inc., Salt & Light, Sprouts Farmers Market Inc., The Fresh Market Inc., and Zupan’s Markets.
Additionally, these companies recently joined FMI as product supplier members: Anheuser-Busch Cos. LLC, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Campbell Soup Co., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Mondelez International, Nestlé USA, PepsiCo Inc., The Pictsweet Co., The Coca-Cola Co., The J.M. Smucker Co., Treehouse Foods Inc., Unilever and Danone North America.
“Delivering value is an often-discussed concept, but in FMI’s case, the shift to become ‘The Food Industry Association’ means the organization is effectively pitching a bigger tent and creating a food flywheel of sorts,” wrote Mike Troy, editorial director of Progressive Grocer and Retail Leader, earlier this year. “To the extent FMI is successful recruiting new and nontraditional food retailers as members, it will speak with an even more powerful voice on regulatory issues.”
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, PG's 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, while Minneapolis-based Target is No. 7; Keene, New Hampshire-based C&S is No. 14; and Grand Rapids, Michigan-based SpartanNash is No. 40.