The Future of Food Retailing, 2010

As we (hopefully) near the end of the Great Recession, food retailers are facing unanswered questions and issues and opportunities that span topics from shopper behavior to real estate strategies:

• Will shoppers return to buying name brands at the expense of store brands as the economy improves? Have they already? If not, when will they?
• With Aldi and Save-A-Lot expanding aggressively, and Whole Foods regaining vitality, is there any room in the middle for traditional supermarkets which attempt to meet mass market needs?
• Are food prices going up? Down? What will happen to food prices and how can retailers take advantage? What impact will aggressive pricing by traditional supermarkets have on strong growth in dollar and limited assortment stores?
• With Tesco's Fresh and Easy struggling and Walmart's Marketside exiting the market, is the book closed on small format experimentation?
• What opportunities does the dramatic increase in empty storefronts create for strong food retailers today?

Jim Hertel, Managing Partner, and Craig Rosenblum, Partner, both of Willard Bishop, , and moderator Michael Sansolo, editor, columnist, and FI Board Member provided their unique and unparalleled insights into the Future of Food Retailing in this 1-hour webinar.

The Future of Food Retailing, featuring Willard Bishop - $149 (Recorded)
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About Jim Hertel

Jim Hertel, Managing Partner, Willard Bishop In addition to his role as Managing Partner, Mr. Hertel leads the firm's business development, client service, and strategy development practice. Throughout his career, he has developed insight-based growth strategies for many of the top consumer-packaged goods companies in the industry. Prior to joining Willard Bishop, Mr. Hertel worked in brand management at Procter & Gamble and led the client service group at Spectra Marketing. His B.A. degree in Economics is from Duke University.

About Craig Rosenblum

Craig Rosenblum, Partner, Willard Bishop In addition to his role as Partner, Mr. Rosenblum leads business development efforts for the company. His expertise encompasses technology, strategy, and tactics development in both supply and demand, and includes key industry initiatives in the areas of Category Management, CPFR, ECR, Activity-Based Costing, and Data Synchronization. He has been instrumental in driving collaboration for companies such as: CVS, SuperValu, Cadbury Schweppes, and Masterfoods USA. Prior to joining Willard Bishop, Mr. Rosenblum led business development efforts for Prescient Applied Intelligence, Milton Merl Associates, and Crossmark. He currently sits on the National Steering Planning Committee for UConnect, presents at CGIT and has been published in GMA Forum. His B.S. degree in Packaging Science & Technology is from Rochester Institute of Technology.

About Michael Sansolo

Michael Sansolo, the long time Senior Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute and past Editor-in-Chief of Progressive Grocer, offers a diverse and unique view of the changing nature of today's shoppers and their impact on the food retail industry. Through countless studies and work with some of the world's most innovative retailers and manufacturers, Mr. Sansolo has an excellent perspective on the changing nature of shopping, cooking, eating and competition. In his 13 years as Senior Vice President at FMI, the biggest food retail association in the United States, Mr. Sansolo had oversight over all education, supply chain and research activities. Prior to joining FMI, Mr. Sansolo was Editor-in-Chief of Progressive Grocer magazine and was a reporter for Gannett Newspapers. In his career he received a number of awards for excellence in writing and reporting. He authored the magazine's Annual Report of the Grocery Industry along with many other major research based studies. Mr. Sansolo is a current member of the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council and is a past member of the American Greetings Research Council. He currently serves on the board of The Food Institute and Aisle 7, the makers of Health Notes. He is a long time member of the industry advisory board at Western Michigan University and has worked with students at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, George Mason University in Virginia and Portland (OR) State University. Mr. Sansolo is Contributing Editor and a weekly columnist for Morningnewsbeat.com. Mr. Sansolo is a graduate of the State University of New York College at Cortland with a degree in political science, economics and journalism.