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GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2016 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 9 Fresh Ideas Continued from PAGE 1 Fancy Food Shows have been extremely successful as a marketplace, they haven't traditionally showcased the entire range of the Specialty Food Association's activities, including the market research that helps new businesses enter and succeed in the in- dustry. Nor has the association been par- ticularly effective in helping members network with each other outside the show floor, he noted. "Our membership is very early start-up and smaller family-run busi- nesses, versus bigger companies," Kafarakis said. "We see ourselves becoming a greater resource for them as they become market- ready." Newer food businesses face many chal- lenges as they scale their operations up from local production and farmers mar- ket sales into national and even interna- tional production and distribution, and the Specialty Food Association is posi- tioned to help them navigate the regula- tory environment, legislation that may affect them, funding needs, supply chain concerns and connecting with buyers who are aligned with their social values, according to Kafarakis. "We are evolving so we become a greater service provider to them and getting them market-ready," he said. Currently, the SFA's board has been working on a strategic refresh of its lifetime achievement and sofi Award recognitions, with sofi categories being re-evaluated to ensure that there's a category fit for entries that haven't quite fit well into the existing categories in past years. "Strategically, going forward, the sofi platform and the recognition platforms will play a major role," Kafarakis said. "We can connect back to the wonderful social values of the organ- ization.... We are going through a very de- liberate review of the criteria the judging, adding some categories to make it broader, to make it simpler to understand and to take some of the complexity out." As it moves forward, the Specialty Food Association's great strength will be that it's continuing to do what it already does best, which is to communicate the values of the specialty food industry to the greater mar- ketplace, according to Kafarakis. "Given that the consumer is so inquisitive about where their food comes from, and how it was made, the experimental nature of food has brought us into the limelight," he said. "We're celebrating 65 years now, and we want people to know that the creative, in- novative side of food starts here with our members." GN Melissa Hughes, General Counsel and Di- rector of Government Affairs for dairy co- operative Organic Valley, has been re-elected as President of the Organic Trade Association's Board of Directors by fellow board members as part of the association's 2016 general member election. This is the third year in a row for Hughes to serve as OTA President after being re-elected by OTA membership to serve her second three-year term on the board. "I am honored by this vote of confidence from OTA membership and from my fellow board members," said Hughes. "The or- ganic sector has many challenges to tackle, and organic has to have a voice at the table to effectively address those challenges. OTA's hard work has given us this voice, and I'm optimistic we'll continue to help organic strengthen and advance." Other officers announced at OTA's An- nual Meeting held September 21 in Balti- more include Kim Dietz of J.M. Smucker Company as Vice President—USA, Sarah Bird of Bhakti Chai as Secretary, and Tony Bedard of Frontier Co-op as Treasurer. In the recent election, Leslie Zuck of Penn- sylvania Certified Organic was also re-elected, while Doug Crabtree of Vilicus Farms was elected to his first term on the board. The OTA Board selected Marci Zaroff of Under the Canopy to fill an appointed term, and Ryan Benn of Alive Publishing Group Inc. has been appointed for another year by the Canada Organic Trade Associa- tion (COTA) to represent Canadian inter- ests on the OTA Board for a one-year term. Completing the board are Samantha Ca- baluna of Earthbound Farm, Jesse Laflamme of Pete and Gerry's Organics, David Lively of Organically Grown Com- pany, Melody Meyer of UNFI, Kelly Shea of WhiteWave Foods and Perry Clutts of Pleasantview Farm. "The diversity of the OTA Board reflects the diversity of OTA membership," said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of OTA. "Our board members are all vision- aries, as is every member of OTA. We have laid out an ambitious plan for organic for the next 15 years, and I know our board will get us closer to achieving that vision." OTA thanked departing board members Rick Collins of Clif Bar & Company and Dag Falck of Nature's Path for their contri- butions while on the board. OTA is a membership organization, and its trade members have the opportunity to nominate and elect members of the board of directors. OTA elections are held in ro- tating cycles with new members serving three-year terms. In 2017, there will be three elected and two appointed seats. Any- one interested in adding their name to the slate should contact OTA. Also during OTA's Annual Meeting, Carmela Beck of Driscoll's received OTA's 2016 Member of the Year Award. This spe- cial recognition, driven by OTA staff and endorsed by OTA's board, was created to honor a truly engaged member. Over the years, Beck has proven to be a world-class member of the trade association. Each year, she leads Hill visit teams as part of OTA's Policy Conference and is an enthusiastic supporter of Organic PAC. She has been an Annual Fund volunteer, and a valuable contributor on the international front, join- ing an OTA mission to Mexico to educate the Mexican government, industry and consumers on the U.S. organic industry and the National Organic Standards Board. She has been an active participant in OTA- led trainings with the Mexican SAGARPA and SENSICIA agencies, and co-presented with OTA at Expo Orgánico, Mexico's largest organic-only event. "Driscoll's has been a long-term OTA member and I have been an active member since 2010. Driscoll's Organic Program has grown to 15 percent of our business and will only continue to dramatically increase in the coming years. As OTA members we have relied heavily on the OTA for its lead- ership, expertise, advocacy, education, mar- keting and messaging capabilities," said Beck. "I am very honored by this recogni- tion, and I look forward to continuing our collaboration and our life's work." OTA's Annual Meeting and the annual Organic Leadership Awards dinner this year were held at the Columbus Center in Baltimore in conjunction with Natural Products Expo East. The event drew hun- dreds of OTA members to pay tribute to outstanding OTA members and to celebrate the strongest growth in OTA membership in five years. A total of 216 organic farmers and organic businesses have joined OTA in the twelve months since the 2015 awards dinner. OTA membership now represents more than 8,500 organic businesses and operations in every state of the union, from small organic producers to major growers, from local family-run organic operations to nationwide companies. GN Organic Trade Association Names New Board Members How can supermarkets attract the newest generation of grocery shoppers, the much- publicized Millennials, and turn them into loyal customers? That's probably the biggest strategic question facing retailers today and new research suggests that the answer may be found in the fresh depart- ments along the store perimeter. A nationwide survey of more than 1,800 shoppers age 20-29 by the Private Label Manufacturers Association reveals that Mil- lennials love food but want food done their way. Fresh and healthy foods are at the top of their shopping lists, while prepared and portable foods are also very popular. These food choices reflect a distinctive way of eating. For Millennials, eating is largely unscheduled. They incorporate food consumption—whether meals, snacks or bites—into a range of everyday activities, ranging from work and play to exercise and commuting, according to the research in PLMA's latest report "How America's Eating Habits Are Changing." While Millennials purchase from many different sources, they frequently shop at supermarkets. And once inside the store they often head to the fresh dairy, deli and bakery departments. The study found that three-quarters of shoppers buy deli items in the supermarket where they do their reg- ular grocery shopping, 77 percent buy dairy items and 59 percent buy bakery items. Reflecting their on-the-go eating habits, one third "always or frequently" purchase Study Looks at Millennials' Eating Habits FMI Connect Continued from PAGE 1 at the same time and place as FMI Connect, will continue as scheduled. "In recent years, it's become abundantly clear that fresh produce and fresh foods are driving so much of the consumer experience in re- tail, restaurants and multiple new delivery channels. We've seen that growth in the United Fresh Marketplace and FreshTech expos, as both our exhibitor community and buyer attendees have continued to grow each year," said United Fresh Presi- dent and CEO Tom Stenzel, in a written statement responding to the FMI an- nouncement. "We're looking forward to hosting United Fresh 2017, June 13-15, at McCormick Place in Chicago with our show partners the International Floricul- ture Expo and the Global Cold Chain Expo. Together, our shows attracted 7,500 attendees and featured 650 exhibitors this past June, and we anticipate significant growth in 2017." "The combination of our shows offers wholesale, retail, foodservice and other food marketing channels an unparalleled experience to see, taste and touch the new products that are driving consumer success with fresh foods, produce and floral prod- ucts. With the FreshTech and Global Cold Chain Expos, we also bring partners throughout the food supply chain face-to- face with all of the technologies enabling break-through innovation at every level," Stenzel's statement continued. "We want all of our friends from past FMI Connect events to know they are welcome to join us once again in Chicago June 13-15, 2017 for our deep dive into the world of fresh foods, produce and floral supply chains." Meanwhile, FMI will continue its Future Leaders program. "One of the things we will be doing is reinvigorating the future leaders program for 2017," Sarasin said. "We just want to make sure at FMI that we're doing programs that are successful for us, successful for our members and suc- cessful for our trading partners, and that will be our guide." GN heat-and-eat food from the supermarket, 29 percent pick up prepared or ready-to-eat food, and 27 percent buy grab-and-go pre- pared food items from a source such as a supermarket or convenience store. Millen- nials are a generation of nibblers and ex- perimenters, so in-store sampling and demonstrations are popular. Home or away, meals or snacks, this age group is drawn to all things fresh. Continued on PAGE 23

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