Greetings colleagues of the Food Distribution Research Society (FDRS). 2020 is an exciting year as it marks the 50^th anniversary of our Society. It was February 20, 1970 when the FDRS was officially incorporated as a non-profit educational organization. The goal was to enhance long term liaisons across academia, industry, and government. Through all these years the FDRS has grown into a strong society that systematically offers a forum for exchange of ideas and information on food distribution research and education. Through the Journal of Food Distribution Research and our Annual Meetings that include an exciting Student Marketing Challenge our society has been committed to the goals initially envisioned by our founders: applied research, problem definition, coordination, foster implementation of results, and assure feedback between researchers and users of results.

The past year we achieved several accomplishments. We have a new position on the board, the VP of Industry Relations, and we are very proud to have in this position, Dr. Matthew Salois, Chief Economist with the American Veterinary Medical Association. We will be opening the VP of Government Relations, currently accepting nominations. Our meeting in Seattle, From Local to Global: Innovative Strategies for Changing Food Distribution Networks, was a success. To highlight, was the Student Marketing Challenge competition, with 7 outstanding teams. Dr. Tatiana Drugova, recipient of the Richardson-Applebaum Scholarship Award, her PhD dissertation entitled, “The Organic Wheat Market: Three Essays on Pricing, Consumer Segments, and the Importance of Labels.” Our gratitude to Dr. Kathy Kelley, VP of Education, who diligently led this effort. Also, we extend our sincere congratulations to Dr. Clint Neill for being awarded the Patrick J. Byrne Emerging Leadership Award and Dr. Kynda Curtis, for the Frank Panyko Distinguished Service Award. This past year, the plenary sessions hosted outstanding panels on trade and transportation. The meeting also hosted two break-out sessions with research update presentations. Finally, the Journal of Food Distribution Research with two new editors, Dr. Margarita Velandia and Dr. Andrew Muhammad is becoming more established as a reliable means to communicate applied research in food supply chain and marketing, among other issues. I extend an invitation to FDRS members and non-members to submit your research to our journal.

We yet have challenges in the horizon, but our board is poised with the energy and the genuine intention to strengthen and advance our organization, with the same enthusiasm our members have displayed for 50 years. Given the ongoing pandemic situation, the 2020 FDRS meeting will be held online. Please check our meeting website for more details.