I've often wondered where my grocery store goes shopping. Of course, I've parked by the everyday delivery trucks, but I wanted to know where the market buys the big things - the year's supply items.
I wonder no longer. I went to the grocers' supermarket and "super" doesn't begin to cover the size of the store. Even the retail industry lingo - "hyperstore" (more than 100,000 square feet) - cannot adequately describe the display-laden floors of the Chicago convention center, McCormick Place.Each year the giant meeting hall plays host to the guests of the Food Marketing Institute. Some 8 1/2 miles of exhibits and 32,000 guests examine every possible part of a grocery store.
What's new at the store?
The market may run itself - without a checker system - if "Check Robot," a totally automated checkout system, is installed.
More time saving yet, D'Agostino's, a New York chain, eliminates the shopping trip entirely by allowing customers to order groceries via a personal computer. Costs include a delivery service charge, purchase of computer software and a monthly subscription fee.
The trend to in-store service delis and ready prepared take-out meals was exhibited on every aisle. Manufacturers are complying with consumer demand for quick and easy meal preparation.
As expected, oat bran products proliferated. Watch for the local arrival of Lendner's oat bran bagels, Sara Lee oat bran croissants (an apparent contradiction in purpose), oat bran tortilla chips and oat bran pretzels. There's even an oat bran shaker, allowing you to sprinkle oat bran on anything else you may have overlooked.
Kellogg's offered free cholesterol tests so I could make sure I'd eaten enough oat bran.
Food manufacturers presented new microwave products, convenience foods with upscaled contents. Hormel introduced "Kids Kitchen," a child-focused, individual portion of kid-worn favorites like macaroni and cheese and spaghetti.
New side dishes appeared in box form. Variations on microwave potato, rice and noodle mixes allow the consumer to conveniently complete a meal.
The food show is not without weird and unusual products. Consider "Frosty Paws," an ice cream for dogs, developed by a veterinarian and animal nutritionist. A "couch potato" dip mix responds to the home video, cocooning trend. To pacify our compulsive need for indulgence, "Death by Chocolate," a calorie-laden, ultimate chocolate dessert, is available.
If the choices are overwhelming, the simple decision is "Gourmet to Go," a complete dinner, packaged in five-course envelopes, and ready to add fresh meat and vegetables of personal preference.
Excess is the key to FMI. From one aisle to the next, you could nibble on Ben and Jerry's premium ice cream, Haagen-Daz, Dove Bars, Borden's caramel turtle bars, and "Three Musketeers" ice cream. Competing for the frozen dessert market on a lighter side were at least six frozen yogurt companies.
After a yogurt, I began to count the number of hot dogs, pickles, sausages, soft drinks and chips available. Basically, FMI is a junk-food lover's dream. Only a few displays, like Kraft Foods, offered healthy fare of tossed salad, cheese and crackers. The lettuce kept the exhibit floor from becoming a food editor's nutritional nightmare.
The meetings are a dream come true for local retailers like Stan Brewer, Associated Food Stores Inc. Brewer has attended FMI for years and not for the food. "I maintain contact my professional colleagues at the annual meetings. Ideas are shared that allow us to maintain a competitive edge in the local marketplace."
Rich Parkinson, another Associated vice president, spent most of his convention time examining computer-aided design products. The local company is in the market for a CAD system and the concentrated display was a timesaver for Parkinson.
Utah companies exhibited on the floor as well. Norbest turkeys served the "Manti Miracle Pageant" grilled turkey; Tropical Sno shared its fruit juice concentrate. Jim Pinegar was selling Magleby's muffins, a Provo company exploring the national market as "Cottontree Muffins."
I'm home - a food editor dazzled by the Chicago skyline, chilled by the winds of Lake Michigan and utterly overwhelmed by my grocer's not-so-secret shopping place.
Now, when I shop my local store, I'll say thanks. Thanks for making the big decisions in Chicago so I can shop peacefully in Salt Lake City.
I know why my grocer only shops once a year - FMI is a year's supply!