“In an industry first, FLO-CERT, the certification body for Fairtrade, and Starbucks plan to develop a single audit system for farms applying for both Fairtrade certification and Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices verification. This will result in cost savings and efficiency benefits for coffee producers and simplify the complexity of multiple audits into one unified auditor visit, expected to save coffee farmers 15-30 percent in auditing expenses alone.”
Does the phrase, “in an industry first,” mean they are the first organizations to do things like this? Could you provide some other examples “in ~ fist” ?
The phrase “in an industry first” means to be the first in an industry to do something.
For example it was ‘an industry first’ when in the first new Star Wars movie they had a main character completely computer generated (Jar Jar Binks)
Another example, an industry first in language learning is to have the main focus on listening and reading only. So Lingq’s system is an industry first!
Thank you, SanneT for your comment, but I wanted to know some other phrases using “in (something) first” besides "in an industry first. " There are too many hits when I googled “in * first”, you know. 
So, “in a career first” is what I wanted! Does this mean someone does something for the first time in his career? Would you please provide a full example sentence with this?
Thank you blindside70! So the phrase ‘an industry first’ can be used as an adjective or a noun, can’t it?
I guess it has a sort of ‘noun’ or ‘adjective’ function, but I wouldn’t pay too much attention to that, also to me it sounds more like a written phrase rather than something I would say in a conversation with someone.
It’s not a super important phrase either, I wouldn’t dwell on it too much
Thanks blindside70 and SanneT for your help! I’m glad to know that it’s not super important. (I was afraid it might be!) When I saw the phrase, it just didn’t sound right to me and I thought there were other words that had been omitted. I don’t know if I ever see this phrase again, but I really appreciate both of your help! Special thanks to SanneT. I hope I can use the sentence you gave me someday! (^^)/
In speech, I don’t think you would hear something like this phrase very often.
Although you can say “It’s/that’s a first for me.” when you’re referring to something that you’re experiencing for the first time.
Basically the phrase “an industry first” is just the same expression as above, but with the word “industry” which here is an adjective describing the first, in this case a noun (because it is “A first”)
Here’s an example in speech:
John: Have you tried skiing before?
Mary: No, I haven’t. It’s going to be a first for me.
Hope that helps.
Thank you LinguaFranca! The expressions “It’s/that’s a first for me.” and “It’s going to be a first for me.” are very useful! I always used “This is my first time (to do ~)”, but now I have another option!