In and Around Food World

May 2008

by Dick Bestany

Many of our readers will be picking up this edition of Food World at the Food Marketing Institute Show (FMI) which is being held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. This is the first the FMI Show plus MARKETECHNICS is being held in Las Vegas. When I first got involved in the food industry in 1968 in Boston with The Griffin Report, my first FMI (then called SMI—Supermarket Marketing Institute) was held in Cleveland. If I remember correctly, it left there after a couple of years for Chicago, then Dallas, and then back to Chicago, where it remained until its current move to Las Vegas.

As those who attend this show know, the FMI makes space available for all of food trade publications serving the retail food industry. This year marks the 29th year Food World will be displayed. The paper was first displayed at the FMI as a Best-Met publication in May of 1979. The big news in the retail food industry that year was the purchase of A&P by the Tengelmann Group of Germany which bought 42 percent of the company’s stock.

FMI conducts programs in research, education, industry relations and public affairs on behalf of its 1,500 member companies—food retailers and wholesalers—in the United States and around the world. FMI’s U.S. members operate approximately 26,000 retail food stores with a combined annual sales volume of $680 billion—three-quarters of all retail food store sales in the United States. FMI’s retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 companies from more than 50 countries.

This year FMI anticipates more than 800 exhibiting companies, with a projected attendance of more than 20,000 people. Companies of all types will find opportunities to improve value, efficiency and productivity in this once-a-year gathering of food industry leaders from more than 100 countries.

The 2008 FMI Show plus MARKETECHNICS will reflect the excitement of Las Vegas while including the classic elements of past FMI shows, including unparalleled industry research, trend-savvy education sessions and cutting-edge technology and pharmacy components.

Every year the IDFA (International Dairy Foods Association) hands out awards recognizing the best marketing efforts of its members. This year, Turkey Hill Dairy took home the ceremony’s “Best in Show” honor (and first place in the category of “Best Overall Mixed Media Campaign”) for a campaign to launch its latest frozen dessert, Duetto. Not bad, considering the IDFA has more than 570 members from around the world, including giants like Breyers, Edy’s, Good Humor, Nestle and Yoplait.
Based on the initial success of the launch, Turkey Hill has recently expanded the four flavor Duetto line-up—which includes lemon, raspberry, mango and cherry—with the addition of root beer and limited edition chocolate/coconut. The frozen dessert line is sold throughout the Turkey Hill distribution region, a market that extends along the East Coast from Maine to North Carolina and west to Michigan.

Many of our Maryland readers will remember Delegate John Arnick, who passed away last year. An evening of celebration is planned is planned in his honor and for the support of the John S. Arnick Scholarship Fund at Calvert Hall College High School.

The chair of the event is Joanne Arnick and the honorary chair is The Honorable Francis X. Kelly Jr. If you’re interested in supporting this worthwhile endeavor, contact Calvert Hall College School in Baltimore for more information.

C&S Wholesalers’ community involvement report is out and it is impressive. C&S is the second largest grocery distributor in the United States and as such, it is able to make significant contributions to combat hunger and is consistently a top donor to America's Second Harvest, the nation’s food bank network.

While ending hunger is one of the company’s top priorities, it also supports national and local organizations that help strengthen families, build healthy communities and find cures for childhood cancer. If you would like to learn more about C&S’s community involvement programs, contact Gina Goff, director of corporate giving and community involvement at C&S.

Congratulations to long time food veteran Jeff Riddle who recently announced his retirement. During his 35-year career in the food industry, Jeff has worked for such fine companies as Borden Foods, United Brands, Quaker Oats and the last 20 years with ConAgra. We’ve known Jeff for a long time and we wish him well in his well-deserved retirement. Jeff will spend his time between Baltimore and Florida. If you'd like to contact Jeff, his e-mail is jeffriddle@live.com .

Don’t forget The International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association's (IDDBA) 44th annual seminar and expo, Dairy-Deli-Bake 2008, will be held in New Orleans, LA, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on June 1 – 3, 2008. the IDDBA show will feature a supermarket Mardi Gras of great foods, creative ideas, internationally-known speakers, fantastic networking, and the most fabulous foods on earth.

Information on IDDBA’s Dairy-Deli-Bake ‘08, research, education, and other industry activities is available on the Web site www.iddba.org, or by calling 608-310-5000.

Now it its 44th your, IDDBA specializes in promoting the dairy, deli, cheese, and bakery industries. Food World will be on display at this show, too, which is being held in New Orleans.

One of the best golf events of the year will be held on Monday, August 18 and Friday, August 22 at Sparrows Point Country Club in Baltimore. (Sparrows Point is right on the bay and it is a beautiful setting). Anyone who has played in this tournament has already guessed that it is the Mars Golf Outing to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. There is a buffet dinner and awards/auction ceremony after the golf.

To play, you must be registered on or before July 11, 2008. Call the Muscular Dystrophy Association to register at 410-494-7106. And if you or your company have any items to donate for the silent auction, please contact Mars at 410-342-0197. This is an excellent time and a good opportunity to show your support to Mars Supermarkets.

This year’s Children’s Cancer Foundation Celebrity Ball will be held on September 13 at the Towson Center at Towson University. As in past years, it promises to be a spectacular event evening. This year’s entertainment, sponsored as it has been for years by Coca-Cola, will be Beatlemania Now. The group is the original group that performed on Broadway. For more information contact Shirley Howard at the Children’s Cancer Foundation at 410-486-4744. This is one event you don’t want to miss.

Birthday wishes go out this month to: Safeway’s Roger Herding; Acosta Fresh Foods’ Joe Barrie and Ted Kopp; Dietz & Watson’s Rich Wright; Magruder’s Mark Polsky; Metromedia’s David Finkelstein; Southeastern Mills’ Leon Gleaves; Nestle’s Nancy Dorsey; Louise Talabac, wife of Clyde’s maitre d’ Nick Talabac; AWI’s Don Tiesenga; An Pointin Stil’s—America’s Best Irish Pub—Dorsey Baldwin; and to our good friend and long time subscriber to Food World, Jim Rich.

Anniversary wishes go out to AWI’s Don and Eleanor Tiesenga, their 41st ; and to Burris Foods’ Mark and Donna Tarzwell, their 28th.

Coming next month in Food World is our annual June Market Study. This issue is the most definitive study done on the retail grocery industry in the Mid-Atlantic. It has set the standard for almost 30 years and next month will be no exception. It is the tool that is used by anyone talking or writing about the retail grocery industry. If you have a message to tell the grocery industry, this is the issue in which to do it. YOU WILL GET RESULTS!

Food World's June issue is read by just about every retailer executive in the United States and beyond!

You can e-mail Dick Bestany at