The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Energy and Store Development Conference will be held Sept. 8-10 at the Hilton Baltimore in Baltimore. Highlighted educational sessions include Food Retailing 2013: Tomorrow’s Trends Delivered Today, Supermarket Energy Reduction Plans, and more.

FMI has announced the release of its 2013 second quarter Nonresidential Construction Index (NRCI) report. The NRCI score of 60.1 is a two point improvement over the first quarter and is the highest score for the index since its inception in the first quarter of 2009.

The most recent Food Marketing Institute Expo in Dallas and National Restaurant Association Restaurant-Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago brought out the very latest in ice-making equipment, storage bins, and walk-in freezers and coolers as well as reach-in versions. This roundup of the latest in equipment is culled from both shows.

The most important thing for me is to go to the trade shows where refrigeration is emphasized. The most recent examples were the Food Marketing Institute’s Food Retail Show in Dallas this past May, and then the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show a few days later in Chicago.

I just returned from my biannual visit to the Food Marketing Institute Food Retail Show, called FMI 2012. This is for all things in supermarkets and convenience stores. For me it means the latest in refrigeration equipment and — more and more these days — the refrigerants used in that equipment.