| Industry
News There were 36,149 supermarkets, 37,409
drug stores and 28,326 mass merchandiser/dollar stores in the U.S. as of Dec.
31, according to the NACS/Nielsen TDLinx 2011 Convenience Industry Store Count.
The number of U.S. convenience stores grew 1.2% over the past year and stands
at 146,341 as of Dec. 31, reversing a two-year decline. Full
Story 
New!
The Jan. 19 edition of New Products Hits and Misses with Phil Lempert profiles
Kettle Brand Krinkle Cut Potato Chips Zesty Ranch, Nutiva Coconut Manna and Cedarlane
Beans, Rice & Cheese Style Low Fat. Five new products are evaluated weekly. Click
here to view. 
Yum!
Brands, Inc. will place its Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food Restaurants
for sale. The company is focusing long-term growth plans on building leading
brands in every significant category in China, driving aggressive international
expansion and improving its U.S. brand positions by building new dayparts and
sales layers at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC. All 1,630 Long John Silver's and
A&W All-American Foods Brands are owned and operated by franchisees. Full
Story  Healthy
Food Holdings is shutting down its dairy plant in North Lawrence, NY as its
contract to produce yogurt for Unilever's Breyers brand is ending, reported The
Denver Post. Full
Story
Ireland-based international nutritional
ingredients and cheese group Glanbia plc acquired Bio-Engineered Supplements
and Nutrition for a total consideration of $144 million. Bio-Engineered Supplements
and Nutrition is a U.S. performance nutrition business. Full
Story Atlanta was No. 1 on the ‘Most Frugal
U.S. Cities' list for the second year in a row, with regular Coupons.com users
printing more than $1,000 in coupon savings on average in 2010, according to the
Coupons.com 2010 Savings Index. Tampa maintained its position as the city
with the second most savings, totalling $863, followed by Cincinnati, St. Louis
and Minneapolis. Full
Story International
News  PepsiCo
UK released its second environmental sustainability report,
detailing plans including being fossil fuel free by 2023. The company also plans
to reduce carbon emissions of key growers by 50% by 2015. Full
Story
French cheese maker Bel is looking into
buying PAI Partners' 50% stake in Yoplait, according to Le Figaro.
Bel is also reportedly holding talks with France's strategic investment fund FSI
about a collaborative investment, reported Reuters. Full
Story Health News Individuals
who ate at least eight portions of fruit and vegetables a day were 22% less
likely to die of ischemic heart disease than those who ate fewer than three
portions a day, according to a study published in European Heart Journal,
reported HealthDay. Full
Story Washington
News USDA
unveiled nationwide expansion of at-risk afterschool meals to
promote improvements in health and nutrition in child care settings. Under the
new legislation, eligible children will receive extra nutrition assistance through
the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Full
Story 
Two
Hard Rock Cafe International (Orlando), Inc. employees filed a class action
lawsuit against Hard Rock for the company's alleged failure to pay minimum
wages that were required under Florida law. Full
Story Market News Cargill
will sell its 64% stake in The Mosaic Company to Cargill's
shareholders and debt holders. Cargill plans to exchange approximately 179 million
of its 286 million Mosaic shares with Cargill shareholders, including the Charitable
Trusts, for all or a portion of their Cargill stock. The company also expects
to exchange all of its remaining 107 million Mosaic shares for Cargill debt owned
by third parties. Full
Story 
Wheat
and corn prices rose 2.6% and 1.7%, respectively, on Jan. 18 as poor weather
renewed concerns about global supplies. Concerns exist that the U.S. winter wheat
crop could be affected by dry weather in Great Plains states, reported The
Associated Press. Full
Story | 
