March/April 2017

The retail industry is not where it should be when it comes to diversity. No research reports or statistics are needed to make that claim. The lack of diversity is apparent from a glance around hotel ballrooms or convention centers where senior executives gather for industry events.

It's not hard to remember a time where grocers competed with other grocers, consumers made weekly trips to the store, and they could only find out what was on sale by checking out the circular. Those days are forever gone, as now grocers compete with everyone from drug to dollar to e-tailers.

The phrase "high-tech" entered the national lexicon in the 1960s as the computer and electronics industries took off. Before long, it became a synonym for anything modern and over time various sectors of the economy adopted the "tech" suffix to signify their advanced state of digital affairs.

Each year, FMI's Government Relations department surveys its member companies to understand which policy issues are top of mind, legislative priorities, and how FMI can enhance our voice for food retail in Washington, D.C.

The phrase, "Asi es aqui," is heard often in Cuba and it doesn't take long before visitors arriving at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport learn its meaning.