Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
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association news NEW CONFERENCE CALLS AND WEBINARS ON DEMAND Records You Need to Keep and Why. Whether you are required to comply with the Preventive Controls for Human Food or Foreign Supplier Verification Program, your record keeping will be more complicated and must be more accessible to the FDA. Listen to Ron Tanner, vice president of philanthropy, government, and indus- try relations, and Marsha Echols, SFA DC Counsel, to learn what records you need to keep and why. The State of the Specialty Food Industry Webinar. Ron Tanner of the SFA and David Browne of Mintel International shared the findings from the "2017 State of the Specialty Food Industry" report, which included a breakdown of the top-performing food categories, the impact of online shopping on the specialty food industry, and a host of other topics. The recording of the webinar can be found in the Learning Center at learning.specialtyfood.com. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA In addition to following the Specialty Food Association on Twitter for the latest updates and reminders about events and programs, be sure to follow other Association Twitter handles in dedicated areas: @SFANews: Top industry headlines from Specialty Food News, plus updates about exclusive online content. @SFACommunity: Announcements from the members-only online Solution Center, a community of industry professionals. @SpecialtyFoodFN: The Twitter account of the Specialty Food Foundation. @PresidentSFA: The Twitter account of Association President Phil Kafarakis FROM THE SOLUTION CENTER: THE OMNICHANNEL ERA, 2017 SOFI AWARDS RE-CAP, AND RECENT Q&AS From the SFA Blog The SFA Blog, accessible via specialtyfood.com's Solution Center, offers specialized posts from Specialty Food Association members and staff on a variety of important topics. Here are a few recent posts: The Omnichannel Era. Senior Vice President, Content and Media Chris Crocker talks about the continued rise of online shopping in the grocery industry, and the question of how much change e-commerce can present to this fast-moving distribution channel. While food retail- ers already understand the consumers that shop in their stores, it is important to also know the people who prefer to order online, and which big companies, such as Kroger and Wal-Mart, have acquired established e-retail platforms. 2017 sofi Awards Re-Cap. High atop One World Observatory inside One World Trade Center, Specialty Food Association President Phil Kafarakis and renown chef and sofi judge Sara Moulton unveiled the winners of the 2017 sofi Awards. A total of 154 products were awarded gold, silver, bronze, or best new prod- uct trophies from 39 different categories. More companies than ever before entered products in the 2017 sofi Awards competition, and this year's program came with some improvements that gave more opportunities for products to receive a trophy. Alexis Rodriguez, mar- keting coordinator and member of the SFA's sofi team, talks about the updates to the 2017 sofi Awards, and the impressive entries that were judged by a panel of 62 over 12 days in March. On the Q&A Forum The Solution Center's Q&A Forum affords Association members the opportunity to discuss challenges, share knowledge, and network with peers. Here are snippets of some recent discussions. Gift Packaging. "I need to put a shelf-stable snack in a "keep- sake" container. It is to be used to celebrate our 100th anniversary, and will likely be displayed in club stores. Does anyone have a source or catalog of gift tins, boxes, dispensers, etc., that would have perceived value after the product inside has been eaten?" E-Commerce. "I'm looking to get up and running on a popular e-commerce platform and wanted to see if anyone can recommend a consultant in this area?" Processing Period for New Distribution Deals. "How long should it take for a producer and a medium-sized full-service distribu- tion company to begin their product orders and deliveries?" Rotation of Inventory by Date. "We are looking for any sug- gestions on how best to manage inventory rotation by dates. We have three different batches of our product in warehouse, and are fulfilling different types of wholesale orders. We want to streamline our process and understand how best to manage it." The Solution Center Q&A Forum is open exclusively to members of the Specialty Food Association. SFA members are welcome to join the discussion of these and other topics by logging into the Solution Center with their username and password.—Sara Kay and Andrea Meyer (See all winners in a special section opposite p. 128) 32 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com