Joining Forces

MICHAEL GARRY

ORLANDO, Fla. — For the second consecutive year, the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association/Food Products Association co-located their distribution conferences, the FMI Distribution/Supply Chain Conference and the GMA/FPA Information Systems & Logistics Distribution (IS/LD) Conference. Both events took place at the Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld here, March 18-21. A joint morning program was held throughout the proceedings, followed by breakout sessions tailored to each association. Befitting the co-location of the conferences, collaboration between retailers and manufacturers was a major theme. At the end of the first day, the two associations held a joint reception, sponsored by Chep USA.