ORLANDO, Fla. -- The impact of the merger of Food Marketing Institute and Food Distributors International will be in evidence here this week as a handful of regional supermarket chains participate in FMI's Annual Business Conference -- formerly FDI's Annual Business Conference.
John Block, executive vice president of FMI and president of FMI's new wholesale division, told SN the six retailers will join the association's wholesale members in strategic meetings with top-level executives from 32 supplier companies.
"This is our first business conference since the merger, and we decided to invite retailers because of the nature of this particular meeting," Block explained.
"This is the hardest-working business meeting in the industry, and it provides an opportunity for distribution executives to meet face-to-face at the strategic level with executives from 32 supplier companies for 45 minutes each to talk about their business relationship and how to improve it to expand sales and for each to be more successful."
The former FDI had hosted similar strategic-level meetings at its business conference for the last several years, "and it's proved to be an ideal means to discuss these matters," Block said.
The six chains who will attend are Hy-Vee Food Stores, Des Moines, Iowa; Schnuck Markets, St. Louis; Penn Traffic Co., Syracuse, N.Y.; Ukrop's Super Markets, Richmond, Va.; Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y.; and Weis Markets, Sunbury, Pa.
Four other regional players were invited to attend but declined, Block said, "possibly because of short notice." However, he said he is "quite confident" the business conference will attract more regional chains at future meetings.
In selecting which regionals to participate, "We looked at FMI's membership list and tried to pick retailers who we thought would be interested and who would fit this kind of meeting," he explained.
The presence of a contingent of retailers at a formerly wholesale/supplier-only meeting is not threatening to FMI's wholesale members, Block said. "It changes the nature of the meeting somewhat, but it's not a big change, and our members don't feel threatened. They knew when they agreed to merge with FMI that they would be working side-by-side with FMI's retail members, and this is the first major instance of that."
(Retailers and wholesalers mixed at FMI's Midwinter Executive Conference in January, but that was not a business meeting, Block noted.)
Also on the agenda for this week's business conference will be the following:
Vendex, a series of face-to-face meetings between vendors and wholesale executives at the tactical level. Block said retailers will not be involved in the Vendex meetings.
Presentation of the annual Herbert Hoover Award to Phil Pellegrino, senior vice president and president of sales for Kraft Foods North America. The award is presented to a wholesale or supplier executive for distinguished service to the food distribution industry.
A speech by William Cohen, the secretary of defense during the Clinton administration.
The conference, which began Saturday, is scheduled to run through tomorrow.
Block said the merger of FDI into FMI has gone smoothly, with few changes apparent to the membership "other than the fact the FDI name has disappeared completely." Consequently, this week's conference is billed as an FMI event and so is the organization's Productivity Conference, which is scheduled for next fall.
The major positive development since the merger has been greater availability of staff members to work with wholesalers on such issues as food safety and government affairs "and giving us more muscle on the Hill," Block said. "But the wholesale members can still talk to me and other staff members, and they can be sure their needs will continue to be met."
According to Block, trade associations remain relevant to members. "There's quite a bit of chaos right now as the industry consolidates and tries to get its footing, and the economy doesn't help. But as companies seek ways to be more competitive, trade associations can help some of them gain an edge in distribution through educational programs and productivity meetings," he pointed out.
