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Retail News
ALDI will lower its prices on more than 100 grocery
items. The program will run over the next nine weeks at
its St. Louis area stores and if successful the company will
look to duplicate the efforts across the country. Full Story
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is requiring all of its suppliers
to start applying RFID tags to their pallets if they are
shipping products to its Sam Club's distribution center in
DeSoto, TX. If suppliers do not, Wal-Mart will charge them $2
per pallet to do it for them, reported Dallas Morning
News. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Coinstar reached an agreement to expand Coinstar Centers
and Redbox in Wal-Mart's U.S. locations. Wal-Mart's aims
to have over 3,000 Redbox DVD rental kiosks in the U.S. over
the next 12-18 months, along with Coinstar Centers. The
expansion of Coinstar Centers in Wal-Mart represents a
transition out of the test phase into a strategic roll-out. Full Story
Marsh Supermarkets, Inc. converted five former
LoBill Foods locations to Marsh Hometown Markets, reported
The Wabash Plain Dealer. The stores are located in
Wabash, Peru, Portland, and Noblesville, IN, and Union City,
OH. The newly converted stores bring the number of Marsh
Hometown Markets to 46. Full Story
New York-based DeCicco Markets decided to stop selling
cigarettes, becoming the second chain in the state to give
up profits from tobacco. The stores are currently selling off
their inventory and should be tobacco-free by April, according
to John DeCicco Jr., vice president for operations, reported
The Associated Press. Full Story
Giant Eagle introduced a heart-shaped, limited-edition
Valentine's chocolate collection under its Market District
brand. The retailer is positioning itself as a one-stop shop
for Valentine's Day, reported Supermarket News. Full Story
Manufacturer News
"Kosher" was the most frequently used claim on new
products launched in the U.S. in 2007. With 3,984 new food
products and 728 new beverages, kosher beat out "all-natural,"
which had 2,023 foods and 405 beverages, according to Mintel's
Global New Products Database. Wary consumers of all kinds,
worried about the safety of the food supply, are finding an
extra layer of confidence in food that is certified kosher,
whether at restaurants or grocery stores. Food manufacturers
say kosher certification has become a must because some
consumers will not buy anything that is not certified,
according to Palm Beach Post. Full Story
 In an effort to link television viewers
with the products they buy, a new media research company,
TRA, is merging data from cable television boxes with
consumer-purchase databases, such as the information stores
gather from frequent-shopper cards. The move could prove
valuable for television advertisers who spend about $70
billion annually in the U.S., notes The Wall Street
Journal. TRA expects to gather viewership data from over
one million households across the country by the end of this
year and will match that information with data from seven
grocery-store chains based on frequent-shopper-card data. CPG
companies including Procter & Gamble and Johnson &
Johnson helped fund the project. Full Story (WSJ Subscription
Required)
Bell Buckle Holdings, Inc.'s products will be
distributed by Tree of Life's Atlanta division beginning
in March. Tree of Life-Atlanta distributes to retailers in
Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.
Full Story
Xquisite Fine Foods' spice business will expand from 50
stores to 9,000 markets this year after landing a contract
with Millbrook Distribution and United Natural Foods,
according to Times Herald-Record. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Cape Cod Potato Chips debut two new potato chip
flavors: honey dijon and buttermilk ranch, reported The
Boston Globe. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Cost Plus World Market will launch a new wine line
in March. The wine line, called "Foodies," includes
Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon; each details which
foods pair best. Full Story
Foodservice News
Sodexo and its subsidiary Retail
Brand Group are looking to open as many as 75 restaurants in
North Carolina over the next five years. Sodexo operates
nine restaurant chains with more than 500 U.S. locations, but
up until 2004, all of its restaurants were company owned. Now
it has chosen three of those nine chains to franchise to
entrepreneurs nationwide, reported The News &
Observer. Full
Story
Fast-casual restaurant chains Five Guys Famous Burgers
and Fries, Salad Creations, Chicken Kitchen and Shane's Rib
Shack are expanding in Southwest Florida. But as more of
these establishments open their doors, some that were open for
only months already folded, including Doc Green's in Naples
and Estero and a Quiznos Sub, according to Naples Daily
News. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Pacific Equity Partners hired Houlihan Lokey to find a
buyer for Sizzler's U.S. and international businesses. It
expects to complete the sale within six months. Full Story
Jason's Deli plans to open a location in Chicago's South
Loop area by May, with four more restaurants scheduled to
open by the end of the year, followed by at least six more in
2009, according to the company's national marketing director.
Jason's Deli currently has 100 company-owned stores and 73
franchises in 23 states, reported Crain's Chicago
Business. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
A
growing number of restaurant owners and chefs in the
Washington DC area are finding that the economics of
locally grown food can work for them and their clientele.
Fueling the trend are consumers who are increasingly demanding
locally grown food out of concern for the environment, food
safety and the national obesity crisis, reported Washington
Business Journal. Full Story (Free Registration
Required)
Ellianos Coffee Company established the
Ellianos Nutritional Panel to research and develop healthy
drink alternatives for its health conscious customers. The
company, which was founded in 2002, currently has eight
locations in North Florida and South Georgia and signed
commitments to develop another three stores, reported QSR
Magazine. Full Story
Fresh Harvest Products, Inc. started a food service
division for its coffee products. Full Story
Health News
A study showed that rats fed on artificial sweetener
still put on weight. Research from Purdue University,
published in the journal of Behavioral Neuroscience,
claims that a sweet taste followed by no calories may make the
body crave extra food, reported BBC News. Full Story
Washington News
New York City's Board of Health issued a broader
version of the calorie-posting rule and is now targeting
fine-dining eateries. Restaurants such as Ruth's Chris Steak
House, Capital Grille and Morton's The Steakhouse will soon be
required to print caloric information on their menus,
including their wine and cocktail lists, reported Crain's
New York Business. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
The withdrawal of Legislative Bill 1148 from the Nebraska
Legislature means pork producers can continue to use
gestation stalls that keep sows confined in small pens for
months. It is considered an economical practice that
allows farmers to monitor food, water, health and pregnancies,
reported Omaha World-Herald. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Choyce Products initiated a voluntary recall of
5,452-lbs. of frozen Yellowfin Tuna because it has the
potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Full Story
Global News
The Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission released information relevant to its inquiry
into the competitiveness of retail prices for standard
groceries. Full Story
The British government is paving the way for folic acid
to be added to bread, despite fears it could lead to
health problems including cancer in the elderly. Major food
companies were asked to reduce the folic acid in their
products so people who eat bread fortified with the vitamin do
not consume harmful amounts, reported The Daily
Telegraph. Full Story
Market News
Wheat used for bread and cakes has risen
from about $4 a bushel to $10 a bushel during the last
year, while Durham wheat, the main ingredient in most
pasta noodles, has gone from $6 a bushel a year ago to $20 a
bushel, according to the president and chief executive of food
manufacturer Gilster-Mary Lee. In addition, other grains,
including corn, soybeans and oats, are experiencing price
increases, reported St. Louis Business Journal. Full Story (Free Registration
Required)
A research program to control
exotic fruit flies in Hawaii has had an economic return of
better than 30%, according to the Agricultural Research
Service. The program developed a way to control four foreign
fruit fly species, Mediterranean fruit fly, melon fly,
oriental fruit fly and Malaysian fruit fly, that devastated
more than 400 fruits and vegetables in the Hawaiian Islands
for 100 years. Full Story
The Palm Beach Post profiled InterNatural
Marketing Inc., which handles about $1.5 million in
organic produce and supplies retailers such as Publix Super
Market. The Lake Worth, FL-based company serves as a broker
for organic growers and deals with farmers in Florida,
Georgia, Utah, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania,
California and Prince Edward Island in Canada. Full Story
A project is in the works to survey most Niagara County
fruit trees and many ornamental varieties that are
susceptible to the plum pox virus, a disease threatening the
county's peach industry. The census, which would start in New
York state in mid-April or May after leaves emerge, would
include as many as 150,000 peach, plum, prune, apricot and
nectarine trees in commercial orchards, in the wild, and in
residential neighborhoods, reported Business First of
Buffalo. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
A handful of Arizona's modern-day cowboys are reviving a
natural style of raising beef that caters to
health-conscious consumers. Their cattle graze in pastures
rather than feed pens, and hormones and pesticides are
generally avoided, and in the process, the cowboys hope to
halt the decline of small, independent Arizona ranches by
feeding a market that experts think will continue to grow,
reported AZCentral.com. Full Story (Free Registration
Required)
FDA extended the comment period for a proposal to
permit the use of ultrafiltered milk until Apr. 11, 2008. Full Notice
NMFS changed the start date of the commercial trip
limit for Atlantic migratory group Spanish mackerel in the
southern zone to Mar. 1. Full
Notice
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IGA Coca-Cola Institute Perspective
