FMI, Technomic Form Fresh Food Business Alliance

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and market research firm Technomic have joined forces in a strategic business alliance to offer food retailers concrete information on growth opportunities for their prepared food sections.

"Supermarket fresh prepared foods is one of the leading growth markets in the entire food industry, and our important alliance with FMI will enable us to significantly enhance our understanding of the characteristics and drivers of the market," said Bob Goldin, EVP of Chicago-based Technomic. "We are fully committed to delivering world-class original insights for FMI members and our clients."

"Technomic has been analyzing the retail perimeter since the early days of home meal replacement, and provides vision into the rapidly changing world of supermarket fresh prepared foods," added Rick Stein, VP of fresh foods at Arlington, Va.-based FMI. "Our partnership will provide our members data and trends on all elements of fresh prepared foods, including consumer perspectives, marketplace developments and back-of-house operational efficiencies."

Slated to launch in November, the initiative will evaluate product sales, staffing, rates, space allocation, merchandising and other strategic measures. Additionally, the partnership will make available an interactive online tool enabling retailers to evaluate objectively the effectiveness of their prepared food program management, as well as providing access to whitepapers analyzing trends in the category.