Retail struggles to find pharmacists -The Lempert Report

The Lempert Report Food News: Marketing, analysis, issues & trends and the impact on food and retail environments, specifically for the B2B food world with reporting and commentary on consumer and retailing trends by Phil Lempert. Phil can predict the future —and then help businesses and consumers understand it. For more than 25 years, Lempert, an expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends, new products and the changing retail landscape, has identified and explained impending trends to consumers and some of the most prestigious companies worldwide. Known as The Supermarket Guru®, http://www.supermarketguru.com, Lempert is a distinguished author and speaker who alerts customers and business leaders to impending corporate and consumer trends, and empowers them to make educated purchasing and marketing decisions. To see more of The Lempert Report visit: http://www.thelempertreport.com The Lempert Report for Thursday January 8, 2009. Retail struggles to find pharmacists For all the unemployment shaking the country today, theres one profession thats begging for recruits—one thats respected and well-compensated, and an increasing part of the daily ritual for people 50 and older, who take seven times more medications than younger people. How bad is the problem? In 2001, the non-profit Pharmacy Manpower Project said that by the year 2020, our nations supply of pharmacists will likely fall short of the need by 157,000. Besides thin coverage, it seems in that sort of operating environment, medication errors are sure to slip by. As the incoming Obama Administration sets high healthcare priorities we can only hope that the agenda starts with receruitment and training. SALES OF READY TO EAT IS UP, AT THE EXPENSE OF QSRs Supermarkets are growing their foodservice sales at the direct expense of quick-service restaurants. According to new research by NPD Group, the dollars seem to be coming from typically unexpected dayparts: afternoon snacks and morning meals. To put it in perspective,retail food, drug, discount, department stores and wholesale clubs pumped out only 6% of the approximate 62 billion commercial foodservice meals and snacks consumed in a year. Convenience stores alone generated 7% covering the 12 months ended August 2008. This week on Food Sense: the WWF Focuses on the enemy we dont see. And Im not talking about the World Wrestling Foundation! The environment, they say, is already stressed by unsustainable development, climate change and pollution.Consumptive demands are rising.Riots erupting as a result of soaring food prices may only be a taste of things to come if we fail to address this growing imbalance between what humanity consumes and what nature, in its declining state, can provide. To head this off they proposes a four-step plan to President-elect Obama: 1. Confront the challenge of climate change. Secure a new treaty, curb deforestation, lower greenhouse gas emissions and create a low-carbon economy. 2. Ensure food for all. Reconsider ethanol, help develop performance standards, do more to assist poor countries agriculturally, reform fisheries management. 3. Secure water for life. Make freshwater availability a strategic priority, establish water security through science and policies. 4. Protect nature and manage resources sustainably. Include conservation and sustainability in our foreign assistance programs, invest in our natural assets, engage China on green issues. The essence of the plan -- is for the United States to lead the world in confronting critical environmental challenges, and restore the integrity of science to our policy and decisionmaking. To reach me directly, please email me at Phil@SupermarketGuru.com For information on New Products, visit our weekly videocast: http://www.ratefoods.com/