ReFresh 2014 Conference Considered a Huge Success

ADC held the 13th annual ReFresh Fresh Item Management (FIM) Conference from September 22-25, 2014 at the Sheraton Sand Key in Clearwater Beach, Florida.  This year’s ReFresh attendees represented sixteen retailers from across the United States and Europe, making it the highest attended conference to date.

The ReFresh agenda included a variety of subject matter expert presenters, FIM software presentations, a retailer presentation and retailer chaired discussions.

For the second year in a row, the conference started with a Welcome Reception on Monday, October 7th, allowing attendees to meet with ADC associates and sponsors prior to the conference starting.

Sessions started on Tuesday, October 8th with a welcome and introductions, followed by an InterStore Overview presentation, which highlighted ADC’s InterStore FIM software suite hierarchy, as well as a look at ADC’s InterScale Scales Manager software system.

Additional FIM software presentations included in-depth looks at Production Planning, Recipe Management, Meat Management and Shrink Management tools.

Other highlights of the agenda included:

• “The Fresh Value Proposition” by Bruce Peterson, founder and president of Peterson Insights.  Bruce’s presentation discussed what factors motivate shoppers in fresh departments, as well as the future role of fresh. 
• “Super Natural Growth: The Rise of the Natural/Gourmet Grocery Segment” by Rod Hawkes, a Senior Extension Associate at Cornell's Food Industry Management Program.  Rod's discussed the rapid growth in the natural/gourmet grocer segment over the past four years, including the dominant players in this market space and the growing competition. 
• “Federal Regulatory Update: What Retailers Need to Know” by Erik R. Lieberman, president of U.S. Food Imports LLC and principal of Lieberman PLLC.  Erik shared the latest information on key regulations impacting retailers, including the proposed ruling on Meat Grind Management and the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
• “Reaching Shoppers at the Meat Case” by Karen Shearer, Strategic Account Director at Midan Marketing.  Karen shared the results of consumer focus groups that were conducted to help identify issues in the meat department, and reach industry-wide solutions aimed to assist shoppers and increase meat sales.
• “The Power of Fresh” by Anne-Marie Roerink, Principal at 210 Analytics.  Anne-Marie discussed trends in the produce and meat departments of supermarkets, as well as key shrink statistics.

Retailer Feedback:

•  “ADC brought together a very informative, creative and fun group of individuals.  Tons of FIM info received and lots of contacts made.  Presentations and guest speakers were all great.”  – Christy Fajerson, Brookshire Grocery Company.
• “I was very impressed with the presenters and breakdown of the ReFresh conference.” – Lon Herget, Associated Food Stores
• “Overall the conference was great.  It was informative and had great subject matter experts.  It was awesome talking with other retailers and I enjoyed all of the great speakers.”

Sponsor Interaction – This year’s ReFresh had 10 industry sponsors, including DBK Concepts/Zebra, Brdata, Datamax-O’Neil, Bizerba, Hobart, Janam, NBI Digi, Rice Lake Retail Solutions, Specialty Printing and Truno.

ADC Announces Subject Matter Expert Speakers for 2014 ReFresh Fresh Item Management Conference

We are pleased to announce that Erik Lieberman, President at U.S. Food Imports and Principal at Lieberman PLLC, Karen Shearer, Strategic Account Director at Midan Marketing and Anne-Marie Roerink, Principal at 210 Analytics are presenting at the 13th annual ReFresh Fresh Item Management (FIM) Conference.

This year’s ReFresh is at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater Beach, Florida from September 22nd-25th.  ReFresh is a leading industry conference for grocery, convenience and food service retailers interested in learning about the newest technologies for managing fresh foods.  To learn more about ReFresh 2014 or to register, click here.

• Erik R. Lieberman is the president of U.S. Food Imports LLC and principal of Lieberman PLLC. Formerly he served as vice president and chief regulatory counsel at the Food Marketing Institute where he represented the retail supermarket industry and food wholesalers before federal agencies including the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture.  During Erik’s presentation on September 24th, attendees will hear the latest information on key regulations impacting retailers, including rules issued under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
• Karen Shearer is the Strategic Account Director at Midan Marketing, a Chicago-based company that provides customized marketing, market research and communication programs.  Karen’s expertise is in the retail meat and agriculture arenas, primarily with the pork industry.  During Karen’s presentation on September 23rd, she will share the results of consumer focus groups that were conducted to help identify issues in the meat department, and reach industry-wide solutions aimed to assist shoppers and increase meat sales.
• Anne-Marie Roerink is a Principal at 210 Analytics, LLC, a marketing research firm based in San Antonio, Texas.  Anne-Marie served as the Director of Research for the Food Marketing Institute for seven years.  In this capacity, she was responsible for developing, implementing and directing all FMI’s research efforts with state-of-the-industry consumer insights and food retailing operational benchmarking.  Anne-Marie’s presentation on September 23rd will highlight shopper trends in supermarkets, specifically in the produce and meat departments.  Additionally, Anne-Marie will be sharing key insights into supermarket shrink.

“The subject matter expert presentations at ReFresh are consistently ranked by attendees as most valuable” said Steve Loveridge, ADC’s CEO.  “These presentations are designed to provide attendees with current facts and trends that are applicable to their everyday operations and strategic direction. We are very excited about this year’s ReFresh subject matter expert lineup.”

For additional information, please contact:
Jamie Simon
Applied Data Corporation
+1.813.849.1818 Ext. 2238www.AppliedDataCorp.com

ADC Announces Dates for 13th Annual ReFresh Fresh Item Management (FIM) and User Conference

Tampa, Florida - February 3, 2014 - Applied Data Corporation (ADC), a leading provider of fresh item, recipe management, and scales management software to the grocery retail and food service industries, announces the dates of their annual ReFresh Fresh Item Management (FIM) Conference – September 22-25, 2014 at the Sheraton Sand Key in Clearwater Beach, Florida. ReFresh is a leading industry event for grocery, convenience and food service retailers interested in learning about the newest technologies for managing fresh foods.  The ReFresh conference agenda includes industry expert presentations, retailer experience presentations, themed round-table discussions and networking opportunities. ReFresh attendees come from a variety of roles within food retail, including Information Technology/Information Systems, Directors/Managers, FIM Coordinators, Fresh Department Directors/Managers and Store Operations/Systems. “We are very much looking forward to ReFresh 2014,” said Steve Loveridge, ADC’s CEO.  “ReFresh provides face-time among our customers and other subject matter experts in our fresh foods technology niche to share the latest FIM developments, hear how FIM technologies are being used and discuss ideas for future development.” Recap of ReFresh 2013 ADC hosted the 12th annual ReFresh Conference from October 7-October 10, 2013 at the Sheraton Sand Key Resort in Clearwater Beach, Florida.  ReFresh attendees represented eighteen retailers from across the United States.  Presentations included: “Regulatory Update: Key Issues in Food Safety and Labeling” by Erik Lieberman, Regulatory Counsel at the Food Marketing Institute.  Erik shared upcoming food safety legislation that will affect retailers, including the changes to Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA). “Consumer Drivers of Fresh Food Growth” by Sarah Schmansky, Director of Account Services at Nielsen Perishables Group.  Sarah discussed current trends in the fresh food departments, including consumer trends and behavior. "Electronic Grind Log” by Larry Kohl, Director of Food Safety at Delhaize America.  Larry discussed how Delhaize America is implementing and using ADC’s Meat Grind Traceability software, including how the software is better preparing stores for transparent record retention and retrieval.   Retailer Feedback: “Very informative and one of the best conferences I’ve attended!” “Excellent opportunity to understand how other retailers are using ADC’s software.  The insight on how other retailers are doing things is crucial!  Thank you for the opportunity!” “Topics were relevant and timely and presenters were very informative.  Seminars were very motivating and on target.” Sponsor Interaction – This year’s ReFresh had 8 industry sponsors, including Mettler Toledo, Rice Lake Retail Solutions, Specialty Printing, Zebra Technologies, Bizerba, BRdata, Hobart and NBI Digi.  Each sponsor showcased the latest hardware and technology solutions available for fresh food retailers. To learn more about ReFresh 2014, click here.