Saint Joseph′s University held the Second Annual Food Industry Summit in the Mandeville Teletorium on March 6, 2008.  This year′s Summit focused on

The event featured several prominent industry leaders as principal speakers, including:

• Kevin Havelock, President Unilever United States                
• Bill Shaner, President & CEO, Save-A-Lot
• Alan Wilson, President & CEO, McCormick & Company, Inc.
• Mark Allen, President & CEO, IFDA
• Hank Mullany, Senior Vice President & President Northeast Division,
  Wal-Mart

These industry visionaries outlined their strategies for capturing their own share of the consumer′s stomach.

Kevin Havelock, above, spoke in detail about Unilever′s communications strategy to reach consumers across the company′s various brands.  Havelock explained several different aspects of Unilever′s marketing plan, including tactics for capturing "Out of Home" food dollars, delivering the right assortment of products, and driving in-store visibility.  He also spoke about global trends in the industry and how Unilever is addressing these changes.

Bill Shaner, above, explained Save-A-Lot′s perspective on segmenting consumers and streamlining its strategies to reach the target market.  Shaner addressed several tactics for understanding your consumer demographics and lifestyle and adjusting store set-up, marketing strategy, and product offerings accordingly.  Save-A-Lot follows a "consumer-centric" model to understand the customer′s needs, create new products, and maintain quality standards at low prices.

Hank Mullany, above, presented Wal-Mart′s vision for corporate communications, drawing consumers to the stores through marketing materials, and sustainable solutions for retailers.  Wal-Mart′s strategy for reaching their target market centers around promotional tabs, television ads, local media, and the overall in-store experience.

Each speaker was introduced by a graduate or current student of SJU′s Executive MS in Food Marketing program, who have all established a strong career in the food industry.  Introducers included:

• Jim Brennan, Unilever
• Charlene Marko-Heim, Wawa
• Janna Trout, Campbell Soup Co.
• Rick Morris, McCormick & Co.
• Daryl Thomas, Herr′s Foods

Attendees explored the highly competitive food marketplace where food is available everywhere beyond the traditional supermarket. 

The program provided the opportunity to hear these distinguished speakers, network with fellow industry colleagues, and gain exposure to current best practices.  Approximately 180 participants attended, including retailers, manufacturers, food service organizations, food marketing executives, and other stakeholders in the "Battle for Share of Stomach".

        
  The planning team at Saint Joseph′s worked closely with the principal speakers to make the event a success. Pictured above, left: Win Taylor and Kevin Havelock. Pictured above, right: From the left, Win Taylor, Mark Allen, and Christine Hartmann.
 

 
 

Pictured above, left to right: Alan Wilson, President, McCormick & Co, Bob Higgins, Executive Director of the Center for Food Marketing, Jerry Bradley, Director of the Cooperative Ed Program at SJU, and Dr. Richard George, Professor, Food Marketing.
     
Above:  Win Taylor (left) with the keynote speakers at the 2nd Annual Food Industry Summit.  Pictured (left to right): Mark Allen, IFDA; Bill Shaner, Save-A-Lot; Hank Mullany, Wal-Mart; Kevin Havelock, Unilever; Alan Wilson, McCormick & Co.

Saint Joseph′s University invites all interested to attend the Third Annual Food Industry Summit on March 12, 2009.  Please visit the 2008 Food Industry Summit website for more details about this year′s event.

The 2008 Pennsylvania Farm Show was held Saturday, January 5 through Saturday, January 12, in Harrisburg, PA. This show, running for 92 years, is the nation’s largest indoor agricultural exposition, and provided entertainment, great food, and learning opportunities from agricultural history to cooking.
 
This week-long exhibition honored the state’s number one industry, and looked forward to future success and trends. The show covered 25 acres under one roof, and it is estimated that over 500,000 people attended the show this year to see nearly 8,000 animals and over 10,000 exhibits. 

Saint Joseph′s University presented a Learning Station at the Farm Show this year.

The station′s topic was "educating consumers about food labeling." Faculty and staff from food marketing, education, and health services at the university collaborated on developing the station to educate children and adults alike regarding food labels and nutrition facts.
Students and faculty collected survey research samples from over 300 show participants to better understand consumers′ knowledge of labeling. They also taught children the food pyramid and helped adults test their body mass index.

Left: Sally Black, PhD, Professor of Health Services, helps an attendee fill out the nutritional survey and   explains the display.
Middle and Right: Joe Cifelli, PhD, Professor of Education, and his son, Alex, help cbildren place the food in the correct spot on the food pyramid.

   
Left: Show participants review the survey questions to test their food labeling knowledge.
Middle: The Center for Food Marketing′s very own Andrea Lis explains food labeling.
Right: Also from the CFM, Deanna Hepner reviews the answers of a survey with young participants.

Left and Middle: More SJU students teaching nutrition at the Farm Show.
Right: Bob Higgins, Executive Director of CFM, and Dr. Nancy Childs, Chair of the Food Marketing Department, at the SJU Nutrition Booth.

Left: SJU students and CFM employees Laura DiLuigi and Lauren Chupka fill out a survey of their own to test their labeling knowledge.
Middle: Tim Gorman (SJU student of Food Marketing), Alex Cifelli, Dr. Cifelli, Dr. Nancy Childs (Food Marketing Chair), and Caitlin Bajo (Food Marketing Coop) man the booth with food puppets.
Right: Matt Black, SJU student, helps explain body mass index and other nutritional facts to attendees.
 
 
Left: SJU Students Phil Thomas and Dirk Prelle distribute samples of the Olde Philadelphia Gourmet Soda products.
 New Leaf, a Philadelphia-based beverage company, also exhibited at the Farm Show. Jocelyn Milvan (L), Katie Sakalosky (M), and Erin Weidler (R) help promote New Leaf products.

 

This educational program for members of the Irish Beef Industry included a study tour of beef processing and manufacturing facilities in the Philadelphia area.
The program represented the international study tour segment of a broader training program developed by Genesis Consulting, and funded by Enterprise Ireland, a governmental agency responsible for the development of Irish industry. The program is also supported by Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board.

A representative of Tyson Meats presents new cutting techniques and serving methods for beef in the food service or retail setting.

The study tour offers an opportunity for the participants to meet and speak with an array of industry practitioners that represent the various links along the beef supply chain—several of whom also are small to medium enterprise owners and operators themselves—and to gain their valuable perspectives about their life and labor in the beef industry here.

Participants toured Esposito′s facility in Philadelphia.

The participants will have the opportunity to see various facilities and processes, and understand what others have done and are doing to grow their business and to compete effectively in their respective markets. The purpose of these visits is to expose the participants perhaps to new but at least different viewpoints, ideas, strategies, and tactics.

Participants had a chance to visit the PA Department of Agriculture (left) and tour Rastelli′s processing plant (right).

Some of the areas covered on the study tour included:

• "Best in class" operations
• "Best in class" aspect or process of their company (for example: supply chain efficiencies)
• Companies that are doing new and special things in adding value to their beef products for retail or food service
• Safety practices

On the left, a representative from Rastelli′s presented packaging techniques.  Participants also had a chance to taste some of Tyson′s beef products (right).

Companies visited on this study tour included:

• JF Martin & Sons, Inc., Stevens, PA
• PA Department of Agriculture, Harrisburg, PA
• Smucker’s Quality Meats
• Marcho Farms, Harleysville, PA
• Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, PA
• Whole Foods, 9th & South Sts, Phila.
• Wegman’s, Cherry Hill, NJ
• Wawa, NJ
• Dietz and Watson, Philadelphia, PA
• Esposito’s, Philadelphia, PA
• Rastelli Foods, Swedesboro NJ

Lunch at Geno′s and Pat′s Steaks (left) and a trip to the Reading Terminal (right).

The trip finished with a trip to the Phillies game and the presentation of certificates for completing the professional development program.

 
Ralph Ciaudelli (far left) and Bob Higgins (far right) of the Center for Food Marketing accompanied the members of the Irish Beef Council to a Phillies game.  On the right, Bob and Dr Richard George present a participant with a completion certificate.

Saint Joseph′s University′s Early Responders Distance Learning Center and Center for Food Marketing, operating through the Pennsylvania Institute for Food Marketing Education and Research (PIFMER) at the University, held the second "Protect and Defend Our Nation′s Food Supply" program in July.

The event, held July 25-26, served as a forum for exchange and dialogue in strengthening the relationship and cooperation between the food industry, government, law enforcement, and public health organizations in the event of an accidental or deliberate contamination of the food supply. Participants engaged in a series of tabletop exercises which simulated a food contamination outbreak in a segment of the produce industry. 

The event drew participants from the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, the Agro-Terrorism Unit of the FBI, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. and Pennsylvania Departments of Agriculture (USDA and PaDA), the Philadelphia Police Domestic Preparedness Unit, the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Departments of Health, and professionals representing each segment of the food industry from farm to fork. Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff and Patrick Meehan, US Attorney, PA Eastern District, served as keynote speakers.

"These exercises are important and critical," Wolff (pictured left) said to those in attendance.

"You can have lots of meetings, but until you have a tabletop exercise like this, you really don′t understand ... how you need to work together to accomplish the goals that need to be achieved."

 

"The food industry has a great economic stake in this, but most significantly we′re all worried about the integrity of the food supply," said Meehan (pictured left).

"If an outbreak were to occur, we have to work together to figure out quickly what the harm is, who caused it and what continuing threat it poses to our citizens."

 

Post 9-11 America is increasingly concerned with protecting itself and its citizens from terrorist attacks. One potential and vulnerable target is the nation′s food supply, which if attacked could cripple the country and our industry.

This program was formally endorsed by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the US Attorney′s Eastern District office and included:

• A national education and training model consisting of three phases.
• Provided training for all segments in the food supply chain-from farm to fork-united with personnel from emergency management and government agencies.
• Addressed situations and issues related to the protection, defense, and response of the nation′s food system. While this initiative will target Pennsylvania stakeholders, it will ultimately serve as a model for the entire nation.

The two-day event concluded with a tour of the facilities of Procacci Brothers Sales, a South Philadelphia-based corporation that is the largest distributor of wholesale produce in the United States.  The company′s president, Joseph Procacci, spoke with the group about the stringent measures and inspections the produce industry takes to prevent  any contamination.

    

Convincing consumers that members of the food industry and government officials are making this issue a priority is vitally important. Meehan, who is nationally recognized for his counter-terrorism efforts, commented, "We will be significantly better prepared to respond to [a food contamination event] because we have done this."

Above:  (Left to right) Dr. Paul DeVito, Executive Director ERDLC; Bob Higgins, Executive Director CFM, the Honorable Dennis Wolff, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture; Patrick Meehan, U.S. Attorney.

 
To view the formal press release, click here.  For further information on this program, including Podcasts of guest speakers, and other ongoing PIFMER initiatives, visit www.pifmer.org .

 The Center for Food Marketing hosted a four-day Executive Education program in June 2007 for the Private Label Manufacturers Association. This program was attended by approximately 60 members of the association and consists of three incremental tiers, conducted concurrently: Core (tactical), Advanced (leadership), and Retail Colloquy (strategic). Attendees included private label manufacturers and retailers.  

Topics included:

CORE Curriculum: 

* History of Store Brands
* The Retail Landscape
* Brand Management
* Supply Chain

Pictured: Dr. Marty Meloche gives an introduction to food marketing and the US food industry to the Core group.

ADVANCED Curriculum:         
* Strategic Planning
* Leadership Development
* Store Brand Tactics
* Retail Case Studies
* Focus Group Observation
* Marketing Private Label
* Collaborative Selling

Pictured: Dr. Richard George speaks to the Advanced group and facilitates discussion between executives on topics such as those listed below.
 

RETAIL COLLOQUY:
* Change Management: Working with Innovations
* Discussion and collaboration of executives in the private label industry
* Scenario planning


Pictured: Dr. John Lord facilitates the Retail Colloquy group as participants in their third year discuss strategic management issues.

Above: Dr. Nancy Childs, Chair of the Food Marketing Department (pictured left), welcomes attendees to Saint Joseph′s University at the kickoff dinner in McShain Hall.   Dr. John Lord (pictured right) served as a guest speaker and entertains attendees with baseball trivia and stories at the dinner for attendees.

Members of PLMA enjoy a reception beforethe kickoff dinner.

The PLMA and CFM staff have enjoyed a 6-year partnership in providing professional development programs for their members. Brian Sharoff (pictured left), President of PLMA, and his staff enjoy the end of another successful program.  CFM and SJU staff who helped with the event are pictured right.

For more information regarding the PLMA, visit http://www.plma.com/.