Welcome to the 1,000th episode of The Lempert Report Trend Video Series.
When we first started these videos back on December 18th 2008, our mission was simple – to be able to share and discuss the marketing analysis, issues and trends facing the retail and consumer packaged goods worlds. Now with almost a quarter of a million views behind us, we begin OUR NEXT Millennium milestone - just as the Millennial Generation takes over the reins of the food world.
A lot has changed. And some not so much.
Our very first story was about the environment, food safety and sustainability – and the role that our food industry must embrace and accept responsibility for. It is a topic still being debated, discussed and making headlines some 7 years later, with little more than baby steps that have been taken.
Those Millennials, you know, the ones who wake up in the morning and never want to eat the same thing twice in their lifetimes were born with mobile devices attached. The brick and mortar retail walls never existed for them. Communicating through social media and through technologies that fade quickly - to be replaced just as quick by faster, better, cheaper ones is the standard. Instant ordering and delivery has replaced the magic of online food shopping. Food retailers have morphed into food curators and their stores into Grocerants.
Our global agricultural assets are under severe pressures from inclement weather conditions including droughts, flooding and hurricanes. Shoppers struggle to understand the connection between the reality that faces the food chain every day and the prices on store shelves. We must do a better job making the connection easier for them to understand.
In our latest survey “Eating and Shopping with Health in Mind” of our
SupermarketGuru.com Consumer Panel conducted with with Supermarket News, we once again asked the question “What do you find to be the most influential ways you obtain food and health information?” The number one answer was, again, Online Health Websites with 57% of the panel answering as such. Number 2 was “your doctor” and number 3 was “a friend or relative”.
Collectively our job, for the next 1,000 videos and beyond, is to educate and empower shoppers with the information they need to shop smarter, eat healthier and enjoy their lives. It’s a challenge we accept and I hope you will as well.
A side note: a shout out and thank you to the SupermarketGuru media team who continues to push us to the highest standards to achieve the best we can.