Find New Products, Technology at The New
FMI Show
plus MARKETECHNICS
Vice
President Al Gore to Speak ARLINGTON,
VA, " March 16, 2007"
The New FMI Show plus MARKETECHNICS, the
premier supermarket industry event bringing
together new products, education sessions,
business opportunities and the latest
in retail technology, will take place
May 6-8, 2007, at McCormick
Place in Chicago, IL. This year will also
feature the co-location of the FMI
Pharmacy Conference.
Tech
Lane will join the New Product Showcase
this year, offering hands-on demonstrations
of technology. Supermarket and other retail
professionals will see how the latest
technologies can lower costs, increase
productivity and improve the consumer
shopping experience. Vice President Al
Gore will be the featured guest speaker
at the opening session, providing insights
on technology issues that are reshaping
today's businesses.
More
than 35,000 attendees from 104 countries,
2,000 exhibitors, including 40 minority-
and women-owned businesses and 600 members
of the media attended last year's FMI
Show. The New Product Showcase featured
135 new items.
Show
features this year include:
Exciting
Product Categories With Dynamic Potential
This year's Show floor will spotlight
technology, snacks and confectionary,
general merchandise/health and beauty
care (GM/HBC) and pharmacy.
Culinary
Demonstrations Sponsored by The Culinary
Expert
Chefs from The Culinary Expert will demonstrate
to attendees on the Show floor how to
build customer loyalty and increase sales
through in-store cuisine.
Technology
Floor Tours
Industry veterans Tom Murphy, formerly
of The Kroger Co., and Tom Nowak, former
CIO of the Price Chopper Supermarkets,
will conduct technology floor tours focusing
on specific systems such as front-end
technology and electronic payment equipment.
Nutrition and Wellness Pavilion Sponsored
by The Little Clinic
The Little Clinic at the Nutrition and
Wellness Pavilion will feature a full-size
clinic and the newest innovations in healthcare
to show the dynamic potential of this
niche.
Pharmacy
Floor Tour
Chris Thomsen of the Thomsen Group will
lead a pharmacy floor tour to present
cross-promotional opportunities and emerging
technologies and to highlight the one-stop
shopping experience. Suppliers will emphasize
consumer whole health concepts.
Distinctive
FMI Education Sessions
The New FMI Show plus MARKETECHNICS offers
focused education workshops and strategic
super sessions covering top industry issues.
This year, Ts 40 education sessions will
address the toughest challenges in food
retailing, including how to:
•
Respond to the coming management talent
crisis
• Fight organized retail crime and
reduce shrink
• Compete for growth, profitability
and market share
• Cater to the diverse and ever-changing
demands of consumers
• Manage and maximize the productivity
of an increasingly diverse workforce
• Use cutting-edge technology to
increase productivity and target the best
shoppers
Technology
Education sessions will explore technology
in the food industry, including new applications
to improve efficiency and service, protect
financial information and reduce costs.
Topics include:
"Garbage
In, Garbage Out: Why Supply Chain
Efficiency Requires Accurate Data"
Greg Zwanziger of SUPERVALU INC. will
detail the latest developments in electronic
communications among leading retailers,
wholesalers and suppliers, emphasizing
the importance of accuracy as well as
speed. Zwanziger will share how to use
data to keep products in stock, forecast
sales, manage replenishment, speed payment
processing and facilitate data synchronization.
"What
Comes After What Comes Next? Leveraging
IT to Reinvent Your Business"
Thornton May of the IT Leadership Academy
will explore the myriad changes occurring
in the grocery industry, including potentially
mandated security of a global food supply,
municipal bans on trans fats, obesity
and evolving preferences for organic foods.
May will recommend techniques to anticipate
and act upon these changes.
Snacks
and Confectionary
Several education seminars will focus
on the snack category, including key market
trends and the forces driving them. These
sessions will also address the impact
of new products and changes in demographics
and purchase behavior. Topics include:
"The
Future of Snacks"
Kat Fay of Mintel International Group,
Inc., will explore the positioning, flavors
and functional trends in the snack category
and discuss how healthier foods are changing
the industry and influencing future product
development.
General
Merchandise/Health and Beauty Care (GM/HBC)
and Pharmacy
GM/HBC and pharmacy are two of the fastest-growing
categories in the supermarket industry.
Experts will discuss ways retailers can
improve service and increase sales in
these areas. Topics include:
"Seasonal
Sales Opportunities in GM/HBC"
David McConnell of the General Merchandise
Distributors Council and Jon Hauptman
of Willard Bishop, LLC, will speak about
the untapped potential of seasonal GM/HBC
products and offer marketing strategies,
procurement advice and space planning
suggestions. McConnell and Hauptman will
propose ways for companies to increase
their market share by integrating these
products.
"Understanding
Your Pharmacy?Ts Financials"
Dave Fong of Safeway Inc. will discuss
the dramatic changes occurring within
the pharmacy category, focusing on how
pharmacist supply and demand, Medicare
and Medicaid, generic drug pricing programs
and pharmacy benefit managers are affecting
pharmacy operations. Fong will describe
what today?Ts supermarket pharmacies need
to do in order to be successful.
"Unleashing
Pharmacy's Potential: What Pharmacy Can
Do for Your Supermarket"
Thomas Blischok of Information Resources,
Inc., will communicate the changes retailers
should make to enhance their pharmacy
departments and become health destinations.
Blischok will also explore customer loyalty,
health-focused pharmacy programs, marketing
strategies and developing the knowledge
and abilities of in-store pharmacists.
Consumer
Packaged Goods, Equipment and Services
Discover the newest products and innovations
in this category dedicated to consumers.
Speakers will discuss consumer attitudes
and trends in new products and popular
categories, as well as innovative marketing
strategies. Topics include:
"Branding
2.0: Developing a Winning Positioning
for Your Brand"
Peter Dixon of Lippincott Mercer, a leading
design and brand strategy consultant,
will illustrate the steps critical to
the success of brand positioning in the
marketplace, from the development of strategic
positioning to alignment with customer
experience and store design.
"Next
Generation Promotions"
Derek Gaskins of Giant Eagle Supermarkets,
Frank Canon of Van's, Inc., Mike Griswold
of AMR Research and Scott Langdoc of Fujitsu
Transaction Solutions, Inc., will offer
a comprehensive picture of how demand-driven
promotions can use technology to increase
sales and margins for both large and small
retailers. The speakers will examine the
limitations of traditional promotion strategies
and address methods to improve promotion
planning and execution.
Four
food industry events will join the FMI
Show plus MARKETECHNICS: the United Fresh
Marketplace, presented by the United Fresh
Produce Association (UFPA); All Things
Organic, presented by the Organic Trade
Association; the Fancy Food Show, presented
by the National Association for the Specialty
Food Trade (NASFT) and the U.S. Food Export
Showcase, presented by the National Association
of State Departments of Agriculture.
Attendees
can register for The New FMI Show plus
MARKETECHNICS at www.fmishow.com
<http://www.fmishow.com/> .
Media
can register for credentials at www.fmi.org/events/may/2007/media/
.
Food
Marketing Institute (FMI) conducts
programs in research, education, industry
relations and public affairs on behalf
of its 1,500 member companies - food retailers
and wholesalers - in the United States
and around the world. FMI's U.S. members
operate approximately 26,000 retail food
stores with a combined annual sales volume
of $340 billion - three-quarters of all
retail food store sales in the United
States. FMI's retail membership is composed
of large multi-store chains, regional
firms and independent supermarkets. Its
international membership includes 200
companies from 50 countries.