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Retail News
Wakefern Food Corp. entered into a wholesale
agreement with Gristedes Markets. Under the agreement,
Wakefern is making available its ShopRite private label brand
including its line of ShopRite Organic products, health and
beauty care and imported specialty items to the 40-store chain
located throughout New York City, Westchester and Long Island.
Wakefern will also be servicing Gristedes with branded nonfood
products. Full Story
Consumers are starting to feel the pinch of higher food
prices, notes The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription
Required) For the latest outlook on food prices for 2008,
which are seen rising sharply again, from The Food
Institute, click here.
Penn Traffic Co. shut down its Penny Curtiss commercial
bakery. The company, which operates 103 supermarkets in
Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and upstate New York,
claims the bakery accounted for less than 4% of its annual
revenue. Previously, Penn Traffic lost a significant contract
to supply Aldi grocery stores with fresh-baked goods,
reported The Associated Press. Full Story
Martin's Super Markets' pharmacies
rolled out a new program that will provide eight generic
antibiotics free to those with a doctor's prescription. The
drugs are some of the most commonly prescribed generic oral
antibiotics in their class, and pharmacy customers may receive
up to a 21-day supply at normal dosages. Full Story
Irish fruit importer and distributor,
Fyffes, bought a 60% stake in Florida-based Sol
Group Marketing Company. The company also made investments
in a number of independent companies including farming
operations in Honduras and Guatemala, reported Ireland
Business World. Full Story
Henningsen Cold Storage Co. plans to open a new
warehouse in Portland, OR by this summer. The plan for the
first phase of the temperature-controlled logistics center is
a 5.3 million-cubic-foot warehouse with at least 16,000 pallet
positions, reported The Packer Online. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Wegmans added Green
Apple Sorbet and pints of all-natural Wegmans Premium Ice
Cream in several varieties to its store-brand frozen food
offerings, reported Supermarket News. Full Story
Manufacturer News
Coca-Cola and Cargill will introduce their stevia
sweetener product in countries where the ingredient is
already approved such as Japan, Brazil and China. However, it
has not yet achieved food additive status in the U.S., Canada
or Europe, reported Food Navigator. Full Story
Raisio and Unilever
reached a partial cross-licensing
agreement that will grant non-exclusive global rights
to a number of plant sterol and stanol patents. As a result,
both companies will be able to develop their business and
applications and not worry about infringements, reported
NutraIngredients.com. Full Story
Cognis
Nutrition & Health will carry out its first price increase
in three years for its Betatene natural mixed carotenoids
effective Jan. 28, as the company tries to offsets escalating
production costs, reported NutraIngredients.com. Full Story
Foodservice News
Salad restaurant Mad Greens is
one of a handful of restaurants nationwide testing Nestle's
new Sjora, a fountain-dispensed beverage that touts itself
as a healthier and all-natural alternative to soda. Nestle
crafted Sjora as a "light-tasting, very refreshing" beverage
that blends about 10% milk and 5% juice, according to a
spokeswoman, reported Rocky Mountain News. Full Story
Aramark
Business and Industry Group launched a new collection of
recipes that provide meals, complete with beverages and
desserts, that are a total of 500 calories. Some of the "5
under 500" entrees include jerk-marinated pork loin,
oven-roasted Asian-marinated cod and oven-baked fried chicken.
Full Story
Papa Murphy's added the
Chicken Bacon Artichoke deLITE Pizza to its lower-fat,
lower-calorie thin crust line, reported QSR Magazine.
Full Story
Health News
Almost half (45%) of British citizens are fans of
fast-food, reporting that they like "the taste of fast
food too much to give it up," according to a survey by
Synovate. They were closely followed by Americans (44%) and
Canadians (37%); nearly a third of Australians found fast food
irresistible. Full Story
Washington News
The North America Free Trade Agreement was fully
implemented as of Jan. 1, according to Acting Secretary of
Agriculture Chuck Connor. The agreement has contributed to
significant increases in agricultural trade and investment
between the U.S., Canada and Mexico and has benefited farmers,
ranchers and consumers throughout North America, noted Connor.
Full Story
Minnesota animal health officials completed testing for
bovine tuberculosis in 1,500 of the state's cattle herds
and found no new cases. The Board of Animal Health claims that
the sample was big enough to conclude that the disease is not
widespread in the state, and that it has only been found in
the northwest corner. Testing started in September 2006 as
part of a plan to eliminate the disease from the state's
livestock and wildlife populations, reported The Associated
Press. Full Story
Several dairies in California filed suit against the
state to stop a law that sets restrictions on bacteria,
which could limit sales on raw milk. The dispute stems
from the amount of coliform bacteria allowed in unpasteurized
milk, the new law calls for a limit of 10 coliform per
milliliter in raw milk, reported The Fresno Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Weis Markets initiated a voluntary recall of its
Weis Baker's 18-ct. Fruit Miniatures and 2-lb. platters of
Mini-Fruit Diamonds in Nut Diamond, Cheese Raspberry, Apricot
and Mixed assortment. The products may contain walnuts that
are not identified on the label. Full Story
Global News
G. Willi-Food International Ltd. signed a binding
agreement with the owners of Shamir Salads pursuant to
which the company is expected to acquire a 51% interest in
Shamir Salads. The agreement was approved by Willi Food's
Board of Directors, and closing is subject to approval from
the Israeli Anti-Trust Authorities. Full Story
Four dairy companies and six supermarkets were fined a
total of $42 million for fixing retail prices on dairy
products, according to the Greek Competition Commission. The
commission noted milk producers, distributors and supermarkets
made agreements which "in the opinion of the commission,
(include) anti-competitive practices that directly impact the
prices paid by consumers," reported The Associated
Press. Full Story
Kroger
Co. is reportedly entering the real estate business in
India, with representatives already having met with three
to four prominent real estate companies in the country for
joint ventures, according to The Economic Times. Full Story
The corporate acquisition between Cloetta
Fazer and Finland-based Fennobon Oy is effective. As a
result, Fennobon Oy, which has specializes in sugar-free
chewing gum, became part of Cloetta Fazer. Full Story
Danisco believes soy ice will move out of the dairy
intolerance niche and into the mainstream, according to
Food Navigator. Although soy ice has been available for
some time, there are two main factors now driving it into
mainstream supermarkets: consumer interest in healthy
ingredients; and high dairy prices that are forcing
manufacturers to seek alternatives to traditional dairy
ice-cream, noted Finn Hjort Christensen. Full Story
Approximately 20,000 chickens were slaughtered by
Bangladeshi authorities after avian influenza was detected
at a government-run poultry farm. Officials say Bangladesh has
about 150,000 poultry farms, with an annual turnover of $750
million, reported Voice of America. Full Story
Market News
Florida's citrus growers reported only minor damage
early Jan. 3 from an overnight cold snap. Only pockets of
minor damage were expected, said Rusty Wiygul, director of
grower affairs for Florida Citrus Mutual. Farmers will be
checking on other crops from broccoli and cabbage in north
Florida to strawberries, tomatoes, and corn toward the south,
reported Bradenton Herald. Full Story
Meanwhile, Louisiana's peach farmers hope the
cold weather sticks around, noted The Associated
Press. However, the cold snap could be a problem for the
state's strawberries, wheat, sugarcane, blueberry and citrus
crops, as well as the harvesting of crawfish, according to a
spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture. Full Story
Pear shippers continue to enjoy strong demand for
promotable supplies of bartletts, anjous and boscs, and
they do not expect that to change in 2008, reported The
Packer Online. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
California's mango production will continue to be
affected by damage from the severe freeze a year ago,
which cut production to about 10% of average. Trees appear to
be recovering and barring another cold spell, they may produce
about half of an average crop this year, reported
California Farm Bureau.
NMFS will implement a regulatory amendment to the
Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the
Gulf of Mexico. Full Notice
NMFS proposed to change the start date for the
commercial trip limit for Atlantic migratory group Spanish
mackerel in the southern zone to March 1. Full Notice
NMFS proposed 2008 fishing year Total Allowable
Catches for Eastern Georges Bank cod, haddock, and
yellowtail flounder in the U.S./Canada Management Area. Full Notice
Florida will transfer its commercial bluefish quota for
2007 to New York. Full
Notice
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IGA Coca-Cola Institute Perspective
