ARC Acquires the Retail Dietitians Business Alliance

CHICAGO, Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Retail and Consumer Professionals ("ARC") announces the acquisition of The Retail Dietitians Business Alliance ("RDBA") from Phil Lempert of Consumer Insight. Lempert, also known as The Supermarket Guru^®, founded the RDBA in 2012 to help support registered dietitians working with grocery and other retailers across the U.S. and Canada. The acquisition of this exciting retail professional group is another step in accelerating ARC's vision of building better communities for professionals in the retail and consumer goods industry so they can learn, grow and meaningfully connect with others in their fields.

In addition to the RDBA, ARC owns the Category Management Association, the Shopper Insights Management Association and the Space Planning Community. Emily Callahan, the President of ARC shared, "We are very pleased to bring the RDBA into ARC and look forward to partnering with the RDBA advisory board to further expand the community and provide new content, training, thought leadership and networking opportunities to the member-base."

The ARC leadership team also welcomes Stephanie Schultz as its new Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives. Although Ms. Schultz will wear several hats at ARC, one of her key roles will be to function as ARC's ambassador to the RDBA. As a former retail dietitian and the RDBA's first Retail Dietitian of the Year award winner, ARC believes Ms. Schulz will be a great help in working with the RDBA's advisory board to set the community's strategic roadmap and future offerings.

When asked about the sale of the RDBA, Phil Lempert said "Over the past few years, I have worked closely with the team at ARC and have the utmost respect for their team and the quality of their offerings. By joining the ARC banner, RDBA's retail dietitians will become a part of this growing organization and have access to ARC's suite of training, services, tools and vast networking."

The Association of Retail and Consumer Professionals is an international master association headquartered in Chicago.

Consumer Insight was founded by Phil Lempert in 1985 to work with and educate the food industry about emerging consumer trends. Its brands include Supermarket Guru and the Lempert Report.

SOURCE Association for Retail and Consumer Professionals