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Retail News
Wholesale
finished consumer food prices turned up 1.2% in March over
the prior month, following a 0.4% decline in February. The
increase was driven by higher fresh vegetable, egg, rice,
beef, seafood, coffee, and vegetable oil prices. For the first
quarter of 2008, wholesale food inflation is pegged at 6.7%,
even greater than last year's 5.6% rate at this point in time,
according to The Food
Institute. Full Story
Some 3.2% of U.S. adults, or 7.3
million people, follow a vegetarian-based diet, according
to Vegetarian Times' Vegetarianism in America report.
Approximately 0.5%, or one million, of those are vegans. In
addition, 10% of U.S. adults, or 22.8 million people, report
following a vegetarian-inclined diet. Full
Story
NEW STORE NEWS:
Rutter's Farm Store closed a York, PA location in
preparation for a new 5,200-sq. ft. store set to be completed
by July, reported York Daily Record. Full Story ... The Sunflower Farmers
Market opened a store in Boulder, CO, reported Rocky
Mountain News. Full
Story
Manufacturer News
United Natural Foods, Inc. plans
to relocate its New Oxford, PA operations to a new
675,000-sq. ft. distribution facility in York, PA. The York
distribution center is expected to commence operations towards
the end of 2008 and will serve as a hub for customers in New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio,
Virginia and West Virginia. Full Story
Clearly Canadian Brands signed a
letter of intent to acquire Baldwin Street Kosher, which
produces Gourmet Hot Dogs, Sausages, Salami's and other
Kosher/Gluten Free Meat Products. Full Story
NUMI Organic Tea is planing to expand into new
markets, accelerate new product development, round out the
senior management team and support projected growth via a $1.8
million investment from TBL Capital. NUMI Organic Tea is a
premium, organic and fair trade tea company specializing in a
special line up of full-leaf teas, fresh pure herbs and an
innovative line of flowering teas. Full Story
Green Mountain Coffee launched a line of Single Origin
coffees, which include: Colombian Fair Trade Select,
Guatemalan Finca Dos Marias, Kenyan Highland Cooperatives,
Mexican Decaf Huatusco Cooperative, Sumatran Lake Tawar, and
Tanzanian Gombe Reserve. Full Story
Amish Naturals, Inc. launched a line of 100% all-natural
Chewy Granola Bars in four varieties, which will be
available nationwide. Full Story
Omega Farms introduced Low-Fat Chocolate Milk
fortified with Omega-3's to its line of dairy products. Full Story
Foodservice News
Restaurant
users rated both nutritional disclosure and responding to
nutritional concerns among the four most important social
issues for the restaurant industry to address, according to
Technomic's latest study of consumer attitudes toward
corporate social responsibility in the restaurant industry. Full Story
Tropical
Smoothie Café plans to open up to 72 locations throughout
Chicago in the next six years. The chain's move into
Illinois is part of a greater expansion effort to open roughly
1,300 restaurants across the country in the next five years,
reported Crain's Chicago Business. Full Story (Free Registration
Required)
Carvel
Ice Cream will roll out six new blended frozen drinks to
become permanent menu items at over 500 locations nationwide
in April. Full Story
Health News
A government recommended diet,
called the DASH diet shows strong evidence for lowering
blood pressure, according to a study of more than 88,000
women over 25 years.
The
DASH diet favors fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat
milk and plant-based protein over meat.
Women
with these eating habits were 24% less likely to have a heart
attack and 18% less likely to have a stroke than women with
more typical American
diets,
reported CBSNEWS.com. Full Story
Washington News
President George W. Bush ordered the release of $200
million in emergency food aid to help countries where the
soaring cost of basic food has spurred riots and instability.
The money, to come from a food reserve, will address food
needs in Africa and elsewhere, according to the White House,
reported CNN. Full Story
Colorado's governor signed into law a bill that allows
liquor stores to open Sundays, making the state the 35th
to do so, reported Rocky Mountain News. Full Story
Global News
The EU Commission rejected claims that producing
biofuels threatens food supplies, and vowed to stick to
its goals as part of a climate change package. The
Commission's decision came amid growing unease over the
planting of biofuel crops as food prices increase and riots
against poverty and hunger multiply worldwide, reported
AFP. Full Story
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is moving closer to a possible
expansion into Russia, whose retail market is worth
more than $140 billion a year in food sales alone. Wal-Mart,
which has been weighing a Russia move for some time, named
German retailing veteran Stephan Fanderl as president of
Wal-Mart Emerging Markets-East to "explore retail business
opportunities in Russia and neighboring markets," reported
The Associated Press. Full Story, Wal-Mart Press Release
The supply of grain in China's Guangdong province is
stable, and officials denied a report published by
China Economic Weekly that alleged the region is facing
the biggest grain deficiency in the country. Grain storage in
Guangzhou is sufficient to meet the city's demand for 10 days,
while Shenzhen's storage is enough for 25 days, reported
China Daily. Full Story
In May, FDA will open an office in China as part of
a change in strategy following product safety problems. U.S.
food and drug regulators will start working once Beijing gives
its final approval, reported The Associated Press. Full Story
CSM reached agreement to acquire Harden Fine Foods for
$12.6 million. UK-based Harden Fine Foods is a supplier of
cakes to in-store bakeries, as well as out-of-home market
segments, reported Reuters. Full Story
Britain's Food Standards Agency published new protocol
on how it will communicate with both the food industry and
the general public. Full Story
Market News
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture will rollout a
three-year pilot project to track and trace tomatoes and
other produce using radio frequency identification (RFID)
technology. While the technology is already being used by a
few supermarkets and farms across the nation, Hawaii would be
the first state to test RFID from farm to market in hopes of
improving food safety, reported The Associated Press.
Full Story
Agriculture continues to be Santa Barbara
County, CA's major producing industry, according to an
annual crop report. The 2007 gross production was valued at
$1.1 billion, an 8.5% increase in gross value from 2006, and
the second year in a row that agriculture surpassed the one
billion dollar benchmark. Full Report
Online marketing analysis and service company
DTN will launch MarketSpace, a website that links producers
and agribusinesses such as elevators, renewable fuels
plants and feedmills so they can do business via a secure
online account, reported The Wichita Eagle. Full Story (Free Registration
Required)
Although China is the largest walnut producer, it could
become a larger market for California-grown nuts. Chinese
consumers are increasing their demand for walnuts, and
California farmers now export small amounts there. However,
China imposes tariffs and other barriers that make American
nuts less competitive, reported California Farm
Bureau.
Observers claim hot weather in Southern California
appeared to create few problems for farmers. In Ventura
County, warm temperatures hastened ripening among strawberries
and celery, and that could affect on-farm prices if supplies
exceed demand. In San Diego County, farmers who are under
water allotments must determine how little water they can
apply while maintaining their crops, reported California
Farm
Bureau.
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IGA Coca-Cola Institute Perspective 
