IGA Coca-Cola Institute Perspective

Help Us Learn About You…

A message to IGA Retailers from …
Paulo Goelzer, Ph.D., CEO of IGA Coca-Cola Institute

Working in association with Loyola University, the IGA Coca-Cola Institute has assembled a notable international team to study the workplaces of our IGA stores. We have developed a short survey that will help us learn how IGA team members can work together and be rewarded effectively to increase work satisfaction and performance.

We ask that you please participate in the IGA Coca-Cola Institute's Manager and Employee Opinion Survey. The survey is hosted on Loyola University's Web site, ensuring all manager and employee responses are kept anonymous and confidential. No one at IGA -- or at your store -- will have access to your responses.

The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete and is presented in two versions based on participants' store position: one survey is for the store manager/owner and the other is for assistant managers, department managers and full-time employees. We are requesting the store manager/owner complete the survey for each store so the feedback can be matched with the responses from the managers and employees of the same store.

Both surveys may be completed online or if you prefer, you may print and mail the survey. Both the online and printable versions are available at the Institute Web site.

We thank you in advance for your help and look forward to sharing our findings with you.

Paulo Goelzer

Retail News

Consumer interest in buying green environmentally friendly products and healthy organic food remains high despite the tough economy and rising food and energy prices, according to a recent market research survey by Mambo Sprouts Marketing. Consumers are placing a priority on buying green and two in three or more are using coupons, stocking up on sales and cooking meals at home to stretch their grocery dollars, reported The Sun Herald. Full Story

Supervalu is accelerating the development of a premium line of private-label entrees and side dishes to take advantage of the consumer shift to trade down, reported Supermarket News. Full Story

Target is partnering with food personality Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods show, for its SuperTarget Meal Adventure Guide, which will be a series of recipes and meal ideas provided by Zimmern incorporating products from Target's private label brand, Archer Farms, as well as other ingredients stocked at SuperTarget, reported Brandweek. Full Story

Sunflower Farmers Market will open five or six stores in the Dallas area over the next 18 months. A store will open in Plano, TX, later this year, reported The Dallas Morning News. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

FMI President and CEO, Tim Hammonds, elected to retire. Hammonds, the Institute's second chief executive, will have served in that capacity for fifteen years. Full Story

The Grocery Manufacturers Association launched www.keepfoodsafe.org, a food safety information website. Full Story

PDQ Care, Inc. introduced a combination retail health clinic and pharmacy at a shopping mall in Florida. The company plans to open another 40 to 50 outlets in Florida malls within the next three years with an eventual expansion to 400 locations nationally. Full Story

NEW STORE NEWS: Harmons opened a 70,000-sq. ft. grocery store that features an expanded fresh foods section, ready-to-eat meals and a culinary education center, reported The Salt Lake Tribune. Full Story ... A 15,000-sq. ft. $1.25 Mart opened in Fresno, CA, reported The Fresno Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Manufacturer News

Greencore Group PLC acquired Home Made Brand Foods Inc., a manufacturer in the chilled food market in the Northeast. This acquisition marks the entry by Greencore, a European food and malt producer, into the growing chilled convenience food market in North America. Full Story

Magic Hat Brewing Company & Performing Arts Center, Inc. agreed to acquire Pyramid Breweries Inc., through an agreed all-cash tender offer and subsequent merger. Full Story

Pectin gels have shown the ability to improve the taste and texture of low-fat cheese, according to research from China. The gel could help food makers cut costs and achieve a healthier finished product without altering the final taste or texture, reported Food Navigator. Full Story

Foodservice News

If consumers respond to the tax rebates as they did in 2001 restaurants will benefit, according to a report from The NPD Group. Studies of what happened after households started receiving their rebate checks between July and September 2001 found that initially much of the money went into savings or to pay debt. Then, spending went to clothing stores and restaurants. In general, there was a lag time between when consumers received their checks and when they started spending at restaurants. Full Story

The outlook for the restaurant industry continued to weaken in March, as the National Restaurant Association's comprehensive index of restaurant activity fell sharply. The Association's Restaurant Performance Index stood at 97.9 in March, down 0.9% from February and its lowest level on record. Full Story

Starbucks Corp. will unveil two new drinks: a smoothie-like beverage made of fresh fruit and whey powder, and another sweet, icy drink, according to The Wall Street Journal. The two lines of drinks come as the company is in the initial stage of a broader push into healthier drink and food products, reported Reuters. Full Story

Nathan's Famous, Inc. sold NF Roasters Corp. to Roasters Asia Pacific (Cayman) Limited, its Master Developer of franchised Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants in Malaysia and certain other foreign territories, for $4 million. Full Story

Health News

Not all trans fats may be bad for a person's heart, according to the University of Alberta. Natural trans fats found in yogurt, cheese, milk, beef or lamb chops may actually lower cholesterol and help reduce risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, reported Winnipeg Free Press. Full Story

Washington News

House Democrats are pushing for new standards to protect workers from combustible dust explosions. The legislation would require OSHA to come up with temporary safety standards within 90 days and final safety standards 18 months after the legislation is signed into law, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

The rule requiring New York City fast food restaurants to post calorie information on menu boards is effective immediately, according to a federal appeals court. However, the city will not begin imposing fines on restaurants that do not comply until July 18, reported Reuters. Full Story

The SEC recommended no action be taken against Whole Foods Market's chief executive after it concluded its probe into the executive's anonymous web chat room messages about then-rival Wild Oats Markets, reported Reuters. Full Story

Global News

Plans to invest in biodiesel refineries across Southeast Asia are on hold as the prices of key raw ingredients, particularly palm oil, have increased amid surging food demand in China and India. An oversupply of biodiesel fuel in Europe and growing concern in the West about the adverse environmental impact of oil-palm cultivation have added to the bleak outlook. Many firms are instead capitalizing on growing demand for food in China and India by exporting more cooking oil, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Although UK grocery retailers deliver a good deal for consumers, action is needed to improve competition in local markets and to address the relationships between retailers and their suppliers, according to a final report by the UK Competition Commission. Full Report

UK exports of Scotch whisky reached £2.8 billion in 2007, according to the Scotch Whisky Association. The value of exports to India rose by 36%, while exports to the EU went up by 27%, reported BBC News. Full Story

In 2007, total soft drinks consumption stayed firm in the British market, according to the British Soft Drink Association. However, category trends shifted significantly with the smoothie sector growing by 44%. Full Story

Japan detected the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus in swans in Akita Prefecture, the country's first outbreak of the H5N1 virus since March 2007, according to The Japan Times. Full Story

Market News

This year, about a quarter of U.S. corn will go to feeding ethanol plants instead of poultry or livestock. Although the change is helping farmers, it is boosting demand and prices for corn at the same time global grain demand is growing, reported MSNBC. Full Story

Some top international food scientists recommended halting the use of food-based biofuels, such as ethanol, saying it would cut corn prices by 20% during a world food crisis, according to The Associated Press. Full Story

Pacific Ethanol Inc.'s newest plant increased the company's production capacity by 60%. The plant is the company's third wholly owned facility, reported The Sacramento Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Costa Rica's top two citrus companies are planning major expansions of their orange groves and juice production to seize the opportunity presented by Florida's shrinking orange production. "Florida's comparative decline in the orange juice business has opened the door for others," said Randy Fleming, managing director of Del Oro S.A., Costa Rica's second largest grower and juice processor. "(That) leaves an opportunity for Mexico and Central America to respond. Of the Central American countries, Costa Rica is probably best poised to do so," according to The Lakeland Ledger. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Grower-shippers expect continued strong demand for high-quality California strawberries as the Santa Maria region begins to take over the bulk of production from the Oxnard region. Volumes were slightly down the week of Apr. 21 because of inconsistent weather, but they should increase at the end of the month and in the first week of May, reported The Packer Online. Full Story (Subscription Required)

Scientists in Africa discovered a rare multi-headed coconut tree. Most coconut palms have a single trunk and head, while this one has three heads, and produces more than 150 large fruit a year, as opposed to the normal 30-80 coconuts, reported BBC News. Full Story

Cherry harvest started in the Southern San Joaquin Valley, and California-grown cherries will begin arriving in grocery stores in a couple of weeks. The cherry trees have a heavy set of fruit, and that will slow the maturation of the crop, reported California Farm Bureau.