The Best is Yet to Come

I’m sitting in the lobby of the Waldorf=Astoria hotel watching food retailers, private label suppliers and others who attended this inaugrural check out with suitcases in tow and start their journey home.

They’ll go back to their businesses packed with lots information about innovation and collaboration.

Many will converge again in just months, as FMI President Leslie Sarasin announced yesterday that FMI also will sponsor The Private Brands Business Conference in Dallas, October 26-29, 2009.

FMI is already planning the dates and location of its next Private Brands Summit, tentatively scheduled to be held in the first quarter of 2010.

As part of its strengthened private-label efforts, FMI will also give private label more exposure at its 2010 show in Las Vegas. The 2010 event will include a private-label pavilion on the exhibit floor, as well as educational sessions dedicated to the industry.

And don't forget new industry research, the first of which was released yesterday with an FMI survey about Hispanic private-label buying trends.