Although meat prices are higher and discount deals have dwindled, overall meat sales still reflect the robust performance of the pandemic era, according to recent data from IRI shows. IRI's Ann-Marie Roerink discusses future trends and opportunities for grocers to leverage the continuing strength of the category.
Full Story: Winsight Grocery Business

Consumers acknowledge family meals as a primary resource to help them stay strong during the COVID-19 pandemic, and identify their time together at the dinner table as their top strategy to cope with what the future brings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9NO2zQ5vLgSeptember, as National Family Meals Month,™ provides an excellent opportunity to celebrate the vitality of family life and highlight the many ways the food industry supports families in staying connected and healthy with fast and friendly family meal solutions.

Find turnkey resources and ideas in FMI Foundation's toolkit, so you can support your shoppers in their effort to Stay Strong with Family Meals!

 Access Family Meals Toolkit

USDA announced its plans to permanently increase monthly SNAP benefits by 27% beginning Oct. 1, 2021. The increase follows language in the 2018 Farm Bill requiring USDA to evaluate and update the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) by 2022. TFP is the basis for calculating monthly SNAP allotments and has not been updated with a major change since 1975. The current 15% increase in SNAP benefits that Congress authorized last year as part of a pandemic relief plan will expire on Sept. 30, 2021, the day prior to the onset of the 27% increase.

Yesterday 7/21, during a press conference at the State Capitol, Governor Mike Parson announced the launch of a statewide COVID-19 vaccination incentive program, MO VIP, to encourage vaccination among all Missourians age 12 and up. Over the next three months, 900 Missourians who have or will choose to be vaccinated will win cash or education savings account prizes in the amount of $10,000. 

On July 7, 2021, Missouri Governor Mike Parson signed into law a COVID-19 liability bill (Senate Bill 51). The law, which becomes effective on August 28, 2021, is intended to provide protections to Missouri businesses, the health care industry, religious organizations and others for liability under three types of COVID-19 related causes of action: COVID-19 exposure actions, COVID-19 medical liability actions, and COVID-19 products liability actions.

The law preempts and supersedes any state, local, or common law causes of actions for damages arising from these COVID-19 related actions and permits plaintiffs to recover punitive damages not exceeding nine times the amount of compensatory damages awarded. While providing injured persons with an avenue for recovery, the law generally protects and limits liability to businesses and health care providers by requiring plaintiffs to prove a heightened standard of conduct –  recklessness or willful misconduct – to maintain the action and limiting liability even further for religious organizations. Read this alert for what you need to know about each COVID-19 related cause of action. READ MORE HERE!

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce updated their Return to Work guide to include the latest CDC guidance on workplace COVID-19 policy regarding fully vaccinated employees. 

In addition to the obvious health and safety benefits of the vaccine, there are several subsequent reasons for Missourians to roll up their sleeves. 

The CDC advises that fully vaccinated people can:

·     Resume activities without wearing masks or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state or local laws or business/organization policy.

·     Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel.

·     Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States.

·     Refrain from testing following a known exposure, if asymptomatic, with some exceptions for specific settings.

·     Refrain from quarantine following a known exposure if asymptomatic.

·     Refrain from routine screening testing if feasible.

Webinar Key Takeaways: Grocery workers were among the frontline workers named as priority recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine in many parts of the country. With vaccine rollouts proceeding and shots now widely available, have all your associates been vaccinated? Do they have questions about the vaccine? Are they still hesitant to get their shots? Do grocers with pharmacies have all the facts they need for administering the vaccine to customers as well as their store teams?

NGA recently hosted a webinar, led by Dr. Anasua Bhattacharya from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that reviewed key facts about COVID-19 vaccinations; what to expect before, during and after vaccination; collaboration between CDC and FEMA; the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program; and factors that influence decisions about vaccination.

210 Analytics has been analyzing IRI sales findings, made possible by IDDBA, to help understand how dairy, deli and bakery sales are developing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. March 2020 experienced the biggest spikes in the history of grocery retailing as the nation bought supplies to fill their freezers, fridges and pantries in preparation for shelter in place. Read more here.