Phil Lempert

I've spent more than three decades watching the grocery industry wrestle with shrink, markdown strategy, and the relentless pressure to move product before it expires.

Food rescue is the most underfunded climate and hunger solution on the planet. Grocers are finally waking up — but it's going to take a lot more than trend

The city never sleeps, and neither does the con. I'm no Philip Marlowe but I've been working the grocery beat for more than 30 years.

I grew up in the dairy-deli business. My father ran a food brokerage that specialized in it, and before I ever knew what a Nielsen report was, I was learning the rhythms of the case.

How billions in beverage marketing dollars are about to reshape what American consumers drink, eat, and spend.

There are conferences you attend, and conferences that actually make you think differently. The third annual Nourishing Change Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 2 through 4 was the latter, and the industry needs to pay attention.

After 111 days of war, the U.S. and Iran signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding, a ceasefire reopening the critical Strait of Hormuz. The deal includes removing the U.S. naval blockade, Iran clearing shipping lanes, and waiving sanctions on Iranian oil exports, unfreezing billions in assets. While a significant geopolitical step, consumers shouldn't expect immediate grocery price relief. Supply chain recovery is slow, de-mining the Strait takes time, and fertilizer shortages will impact future food prices. Retailers face challenges from SNAP cuts and consumer fatigue, needing to demonstrate value as price drops will be delayed for months.

Another grocery chain, another acquisition. Now that Kroger has bought Giant Eagle, is it a smart consolidation, or a company desperately spending money it doesn't have?

Who's watching the lettuce? A market that's learned it can shrug off a cyclospora headline in one quarter is also a market that isn't anticipating what will happen when the agencies meant to catch contamination early are running at 75-80 percent strength. Retailers and restaurants can no longer assume FDA has their back.

The government’s favorite number leaves out the one trick the food industry has mastered