Phil Lempert to Moderate Buyer Panel at Fancy Food Show

Author and speaker Phil Lempert, otherwise known as “The Supermarket Guru,” will moderate the Buyer Panel: Selling Specialty Super Session to be held June 26 during the Summer Fancy Food Show (SFFS), according to the event’s organizer the Specialty Food Association (SFA). The session will feature a panel of top U.S. buyers from various channels discussing consumer disruptions to traditional retail.

Led by Lempert, the panel will explore a range of emerging and evolving channels – ecommerce, natural food, specialty and supermarket – while discussing the changing specialty food landscape, what’s spurring sales in different channels, trending consumer patterns, and what will be needed to sell in the future.

The scheduled panelists for the session are Monica Schechter, specialty and international food category manager, Jet.com; Anthony Stallone, VP of merchandising, Peapod; Cathy Strange, global executive coordinator, specialty and product innovation and development, Whole Foods Market; and Trip Straub, president and CEO, Straub’s Market.

Describing Lempert as “a leading expert on the retail side of specialty food,” Phil Kafarakis, president of New York-based SFA, noted, “Phil’s experience and knowledge, coupled with the experience of our expert panelists, promises a very lively review of where buyers see the specialty food industry today – and where they expect us to be in a few years.”

Applauding the organization’s “move to engage industry buyers so directly and develop new ways to educate attendees at their Summer Fancy Food Show,” Lempert, the founder and editor of SupermarketGuru.com and a contributor to Progressive Grocer, among other media outlets, observed, “Specialty foods are an important and growing category, and understanding the retail landscape and how buyers view the future is going to be critical to success within the industry.”

The session will be presented as part of the LevelUP experience, a multifaceted attraction debuting at SFFS to mark SFA’s 65th anniversary. LevelUP will highlight global food innovations, the latest industry research, and the future of food and commerce.

SFFS will take place June 25-27 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York. Watch for PG’s coverage of the annual trade-only event.