MIDWINTER'S TALE

DAVID ORGEL

BOCA RATON, FLA. -- Trade relations in an era of food industry consolidation will be a major topic of discussion this week as executives converge here for FMI's Midwinter Executive Conference.

That topic is the prime focus of an industry relations meeting that will be held just before the Midwinter event. The meeting will be a supplier-retailer discussion between FMI's Industry Relations Committee and the Grocery Manufacturers of America's Productivity Council.

"There are consolidation pressures on both the manufacturer and retailer sides that lead people to do business on a more objective basis," said Tim Hammonds, president and chief executive officer of FMI.

Hammonds said retailers are interested in understanding the "various modules that manufacturers use in assessing cost to serve and in judging whether or not companies are good business partners."

This is particularly important to understand at a time when barriers between classes of trade are falling and it's getting harder to pinpoint what differentiates one type of store format from another, Hammonds said.

It's appropriate that this discussion should happen at Midwinter. It was at this venue that ECR -- efficient consumer response -- was first unveiled, Hammonds noted. "Now in the post-ECR environment, manufacturers are using these specific modules in assessing business partners, and we want to be proactive in working with them."

The formal educational segments at Midwinter will span topics including the Internet's impact, financial performance of companies and consumer attitudes.

Dan O'Connor of Management Ventures will discuss the Internet's impact and the potential of B2B exchanges. Financial analyst Ed Comeau of Credit Suisse First Boston will present his take on how food retailers are viewed by the financial community. FMI Chairman Danny Wegman, president of Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y., and Jeff Noddle, president and chief operating officer of Supervalu, Minneapolis, will address obstacles facing the industry, including the need to increase sales and improve operations and the supply chain. Paul Rosen, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, will provide comments on what motivates today's shoppers.