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Retail News
Ethnic and specialty grocers are gaining popularity
in North Texas, a trend that continues with the building
of the Shinchon Grand Plaza that will offer an Asian food
market and complementary restaurants, reported Dallas
Business Journal. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Retailers and wholesalers are lacking in traceability
technology, according to Supermarket News' latest
Technology Survey. Less than half (46%) of the respondents
claim their company is able to trace a tainted product back in
the supply chain. Full Story
Cumberland Farms Inc. shut down bakery, sandwich-making
and bottle-making operations at its Westboro, MA facility.
The company will continue to use the 550,000-sq. ft. facility
as a distribution center, reported Worcester Telegram.
Full Story
Manufacturer News
 Environmental organizations are now
scrutinizing the food industry's use of resources. In
response, companies such as Kraft Foods Inc. and Sara Lee
Corp. are reducing the amount of energy and water they use.
Kraft, for example, uses a cream cheese byproduct to help
power a New York plant, while Sara Lee plans to run a New
Mexico bakery using solar energy, reported Crain's Chicago
Business. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
The New York Times On the Web examines
similarities in the petroleum market today and what may happen
in the red meat market in the future, as demand for red
meat continues to increase globally. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Diageo entered into an agreement to acquire Rosenblum
Cellars for $105 million, further enhancing Diageo Chateau
and Estate Wines' brand range in the premium wine segment in
the U.S. Full Story
Green Mountain Coffee is introducing seven new K-Cup
coffees and teas for the Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System,
including three new Extra Bold coffees - Double Black Diamond,
Hazelnut Dark Roast, and Dark Magic Decaf - as well as
Half-Caff and three new teas. Full Story
Foodservice News
More Americans are ordering to-go meals from
restaurants over the internet, reported The Seattle
Times. In 2007, 18% of restaurant consumers are expected
to order online, up from 13% in 2006 and 11% in 2005,
according to the National Restaurant Association. Full Story
Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza grew from two outlets
in 2004 to 51 current locations, with 90 expected by the
end of this year and the goal of having 500 within five years,
reported Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle). Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Foodservice distributor Vistar Corporation purchased The
Marjack Company, Inc., which distributes candy, snack
items, and specialty retail products throughout the U.S.
Full Story
Landry's Restaurants, Inc.
Chairman, President and CEO, Tilman J. Fertitta, offered to
acquire all of the company's outstanding common stock for
approximately $1.3 billion. Full Story
A Made in Japan Teriyaki
Experience franchisee plans to open eight locations in the
San Francisco Bay Area by the end of the year and 40 within
six years, reported San Francisco Business Times. Full Story (Free Registration
Required)
About half of the 100 Jacksonville, FL
McDonald's restaurants have been renovated or rebuilt as
part of the company's Forever Young concept. Participation in
the program is voluntary, and franchisees are responsible for
the cost of renovations, but in some cases the company helps
fund the new building construction and lowers the percentage
of royalties due for the first few years after construction,
reported Jacksonville Business Journal. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Health News
Daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft
drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2
diabetes, reported BBC News. Full Story
Washington News
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service
unveiled new policies for the agency's Salmonella
Verification Sampling Program and related activities conducted
in meat and poultry establishments. These changes include
publication of completed FSIS verification sample set results
for establishments that show inconsistency in their ability to
meet Salmonella performance standards, beginning with those
from young chicken slaughter establishments; a voluntary
incentive-based program for meat and poultry establishments
that should yield significant data on attribution of human
illness to FSIS-regulated products; and increasing the
agency's use of targeted sampling approaches and collaborative
serotype and subtype data. Full Notice
Perdue Farms, Inc. initiated a voluntary recall of
24,710-lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts because the
product contains an Italian seasoning that includes milk,
which is not declared on the label. Full
Story
Domega International, Inc. initiated a voluntary recall
of its Zebra brand sweetened lotus root seed and Zebra
brand sweetened coconut because the products contain
undeclared sulfites. Full Story
Global News
Tesco plans to open its first Express convenience
store in China as part of its international expansion
plans to offset slowing growth in the UK. The retailer is also
planning to invest $1.5 billion over the next five years in
Turkey as it sets up 100 stores in the fast-growing economy,
reported Reuters. Full Story
UK households spend more of their budget on housing and
less on food, while the opposite was true 50 years ago.
Spending on food and non-alcoholic drink fell from a third of
the average weekly budget to 15%, according to the Office of
National Statistics, reported BBC News. Full Story
UK McDonald's employees trained in skills
needed to run outlets for the fast-food chain may get credit
toward high school diplomas, according to the British
government, reported The Associated Press. Full Story
China's government issued a wide-reaching
order to speed up food shipments to markets as the bad
winter hampers efforts to rein in persisting inflation. The
order calls on police, railway bureaus and even gas stations
to do all they can to ensure timely delivery of food supplies
after snow and ice storms clogged roads, cut electricity and
delayed deliveries, reported The Associated Press. Full
Story
Japan is unalarmed by reports of mercury levels in
sushi. The most dangerous part about the report was that
it could spread "groundless rumors," stated Japan Health
Ministry food safety official Yuichiro Ejima, reported The
Associated Press. Full Story
Market News
California production of both fresh and processed
vegetables rose during 2007, with estimates of the crop at
more than $6.7 billion. California farms produced half the
nation's supply of domestically grown, fresh vegetables,
according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics
Service. Full Report
Tyson Foods, Inc. will cease beef slaughtering at its
Emporia, KS, plant within the next few weeks. However, the
facility will still be used as a cold storage and distribution
warehouse and will process ground beef. In addition, the
Emporia facility will help enhance efficiencies at some other
Tyson plants by taking over the processing of certain
commodity and specialty cuts, which have typically slowed
production at those other locations. Full Story
Studies at two universities suggest that feeding cattle
a distillers grains may increase levels of E. coli
bacteria. As a result, USDA scientists recently put 300
cattle on a diet of distillers grains and are testing them
regularly for the bacteria, results will be available later
this year, reported The Des Moines Register. Full Story
Key Technology developed the Optyx with Raptor
designed to remove the core from cut iceberg and romaine
lettuce, along with leaf defects and foreign material, which
may save on labor costs and increase product shelf life. Full Story
USDA is seeking comments on a proposed amendment to
the Fluid Milk Promotion Order. Full Notice
International Trade Administration issued preliminary
results of the Antidumping Duty New Shipper Review of
certain preserved mushrooms from China. Full Notice
International Trade Administration suspended the
antidumping investigation of fresh tomatoes from Mexico.
Full Notice
NMFS will require all fishing vessels governing the open
access groundfish fishery and all non-groundfish trawl
vessels to provide declaration reports and to activate and use
a vessel monitoring system transceiver unit while fishing off
the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. Full Notice
NMFS prohibited directed fishing for species that
comprise the shallow-water species fishery by Amendment 80
vessels subject to sideboard limits in the Gulf of Alaska . Full
Notice
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IGA Coca-Cola Institute Perspective 
