Retail News
Costco's private-label business now accounts for almost
18% of the warehouse club store chain's sales, reported
The Wall Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Managers
plan on hiring 3.7 seasonal employees this holiday season,
about 33% less than the 5.6 seasonal workers hired last
year, according
to a new SnagAJob.com survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs.
This figure includes the 57% of managers who do not plan on
making any hires this year, which is up 8 percentage points
from 2007. Managers who plan to hire at least one hourly holiday
worker claim they are looking to bring on nine seasonal workers
on average, down 20% from the 11.2 employees they report having
hired last year. Full
Story
Schnuck Markets introduced ShoptoCook Recipe
Solutions Center kiosks in 27 of its stores following
a pilot in one store last year. Each store features three
kiosks, including one each in the meat and wine departments,
reported Supermarket News. Full
Story
Shaw's Supermarkets Inc. debuted its "Shop n' Roll"
baskets in 13 of its more urban Shaw's and Star Market
stores. The plastic baskets, which have four concealed wheels
on their bottoms, have a traditional handle for carrying and
a long handle so they can be pulled behind the shopper. According
to their North American distributor, a benefit is that they
prompt some shoppers to load them with more groceries, instead
of perhaps heading to the checkout when carrying them becomes
fatiguing, reported Boston Herald. Full
Story
Aloha Petroleum, Ltd. will open a
prototypical convenience store, beginning with a new,
ground-up unit to open on Oahu in 2009. Currently, Aloha Petroleum
serves Hawaii with more than 30 company-operated Island Mini-Mart
convenience stores and nearly 80 retail fuel locations on
the islands of Oahu and Hawaii, reported Market Watch.
Full
Story
Manufacturer News
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. completed a definitive written agreement
with its lenders to temporarily waive the fixed-charge
coverage ratio covenant under its credit facilities through
Oct. 28. The lenders also agreed to continue to provide liquidity
under these credit facilities during this same 30-day period
in accordance with the terms of the waiver agreement. Full
Story
Heinz created the Morning Express Breakfast Club,
an online community that introduces Smart Ones brand's new
line of breakfast quesadillas and sandwiches. Full
Story
Essential oils from cinnamon may inhibit the growth of
micro-organisms by as much as 60%, according to new research
from Greece published in Innovative Food Science and Emerging
Technologies. The oil was tested for its antifungal activity
and the results suggest it could slow fungal spore production
in certain food applications, reported Food Navigator Europe.
Full
Story, Study
Abstract
Hat Trick Beverages Inc.'s Hot Beverages
Division secured North American distribution rights for vending
machines designed to carry Pringles 'Grab and Go' mini
cans of potato chips. Full
Story
Kemps and Caribou Coffee are launching
Kemps Caribou Coffee Milk. The fat-free product will be
available in most Twin Cities supermarkets. The 10.5-oz. bottles
of Kemps Caribou Coffee Milk will retail for a suggested price
of $1.49 per bottle. Full
Story
Caribou Coffee is now offering Amy's
Blend. Ten percent of the proceeds of Amy's Blend whole
bean coffee sales and associated merchandise will benefit
Susan G. Komen For the Cure. Full
Story
Latest
sales & earnings for food related companies (Updated
Daily)
Foodservice News
Tightening credit could make it difficult for restaurant
franchisees to remodel existing locations and buy new restaurants,
reported The Wall Street Journal. Tighter credit could
also impede plans by restaurant operators to remodel existing
stores, install new equipment, open new locations or convert
existing company-owned stores to franchised locations, stated
Sharon Zackfia, a restaurant industry analyst at brokerage
William Blair & Co. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc.'s new CEO, Roland Smith, plans
to target older customers, change its value menu and improve
the freshness of some items now that the merger between
the two companies is complete, Mr. Smith stated in an interview
with The Wall Street Journal. Wendy's plans to change
its value menu due to rising commodity costs. Also, Wendy's
will be entering the breakfast business, as the company was
serving breakfast at some locations, but has yet to hit on
a successful strategy. Mr. Smith stated the company needs
to reformulate some of its breakfast items and improve its
coffee, reported Reuters. Full
Story, Wendy's/Arby's
Group Inc. Release
Krispy
Kreme Doughnuts Inc. and El Pollo Loco Holdings must post
healthy holiday sales, reported The Globe and Mail.
"The whole restaurant industry is at risk because of
decreased consumer spending, so any highly leveraged companies
... are at higher risk," according to El Pollo Loco CFO
Joseph Stein. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Whataburger acquired its largest franchisee, Barrand,
Inc. The company has 47 Whataburger restaurants in Northeast
Texas and the Florida Panhandle. Full
Story
Hardee's introduced Little Thickburgers.
The burgers are made with quarter pound Black Angus beef patties
and sell for $1.99. Full
Story
Health News
Honey can be effective in killing bacteria that cause
chronic sinusitis, according to a study from the University
of Ottawa, reported CBSNEWS.com. Full
Story
Snack-sized
quantities of walnuts slow cancer growth in mice, according
to a Marshall University study published in the journal Nutrition
and Cancer. The mice ate a diet in which 18.5% of the
daily calories, the equivalent of two servings for humans,
came from walnuts. Tumors in the walnut-fed group took twice
as long to double in size as tumors in the control group,
according to the study. Full
Story
 Washington
News
Pierre Foods, Inc. filed a consensual Joint Plan of Reorganization
and Disclosure Statement with the United States Bankruptcy
Court for the District of Delaware. The Plan is supported
by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P., the company's
single largest creditor, and Pierre's Official Committee of
Unsecured Creditors. Pierre will ask the Bankruptcy Court
to confirm the plan in early December 2008, and hopes to emerge
from bankruptcy shortly thereafter. Oaktree supplied the company's
debtor-in-possession credit facility, and upon confirmation
of the plan, funds managed by Oaktree will become the majority
owner of Pierre. Full
Story
Global News
Some European supermarkets are allocating less
shelf space to international brands and more to store
brands, in response to customers calling for cheaper groceries.
In addition, some retailers are opening no-frills "hard discount"
stores that display products in their cardboard delivery boxes.
Store brands account for some 22% of sales in Europe, compared
with 16% in the U.S., according to market-research firm Euromonitor
International, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
A number of UK dairy manufacturers will join
forces as part of a European effort to improve the training
and skills of their employees. Industry association Dairy
UK says that Project Eden, a Europe-wide dairy education project,
is targeting development of new qualifications and training
programs that can provide a basis for skills accreditation
across the bloc. The National Skills Academy for Food and
Drink Manufacturing will be coordinating and overseeing the
implementation of Project Eden over the next twelve months
ahead of its expected launch in 2009. Full
Story
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ECONOMIC
DOWNTURN PRESENTS OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES
FOR RETAILERS
The
future of food retailing for the next three to
five years will be dramatically affected by two
major trends: food inflation and the emergence
of small format stores, according to the annual
Future of Food Retailing webinar presented
by The Food Institute and Willard Bishop, which
examined the state of the food and consumables
retail industry in 2007 and beyond. Food price
inflation will exceed current "conventional wisdom,"
and be a factor for three or more years, predicted
Willard Bishop during the webinar. In fact, predictions
about the rate of inflation have generally been
underestimated. However, this food price inflation
can benefit food retailers with winning shopper
value equations and solid plans to take advantage.
If you missed The Future of Food Retailing
webinar and would like to purchase a recording,
click
here.
|
|
The British maker of Clover spread, Dairy Crest,
is considering closing a factory to deal with difficult
market conditions, reported BBC News. Full
Story
Campbell Soup Company completed the sale of
its Generale Condimentaire business to Lesieur, a company
indirectly held by Sofiproteol, the financial arm of the French
oilseed producer. Full
Story
Dutch ingredients firm Ruitenberg acquired Crusty Products,
adding a range of ready-to-use bakery fillings to its
product offerings, reported Food Navigator Europe.
Full
Story
South Korean investigators found high levels of melamine
in two more Chinese-made food products. The Korea Food
and Drug Administration stated that melamine was found in
Nabisco Ritz cracker cheese sandwiches and in rice crackers
made by Danyang Day Bright Co, reported the International
Herald Tribune. Full
Story
Singapore found traces of melamine in five more
Chinese-made food products, including the first non-dairy
items that had milk as an ingredient, authorities claimed,
reported Malaysia Star. Full
Story
Market News
Red
River Valley grower-shippers anticipate a difficult season.
Trucks to get potatoes to market could be in short supply
once again, and freight costs are making many shippers worried,
reported The Packer Online. Full
Story (Subscription Required)
California
almond growers claim it is too early to tell if the crop
will meet predictions. Harvest started later than usual, but
since then weather has cooperated and harvest crews are working
rapidly. If the weather holds, farmers will be out of their
fields by November, reported California Farm Bureau.
The Port Orford Ocean Resource Team are proposing to turn
Port Orford into Oregon's first marine reserve, where
no fishing will be allowed. Gov. Ted Kulongoski wants as many
as nine reserves established in Oregon's territorial sea by
2011, reported OregonLive.com. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
The
number of polluted "dead zones," areas of oxygen-starved
water, in the world's oceans is rising fast and coastal fish
stocks are more vulnerable to collapse than previously
feared, according to research published in the journal Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, reported Reuters.
Full
Story
The
Department of Commerce received requests to conduct administrative
reviews of various antidumping and countervailing duty orders
and findings with August anniversary dates. Full
Notice
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IGA
Coca-Cola Institute Perspective
