| Industry
News Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. will focus on
value pricing this fall, including 99-cent Frosty treats
at Wendy's and a new menu at Arby's featuring 30 items for less than $3, including
five new sandwiches. Wendy's breakfast line will be rolled out to 150 more restaurants
by the end of August, and another 100 stores by the end of the year, reported
Nation's Restaurant News. Full
Story (Free Registration Required), Full
Release 
Supermarket
chains and other retailers are using cereal prices to draw shoppers into their
stores, according to Kellogg chief executive David Mackay. The price war could
end as early as October or as late as December, according to the executive, as
commodity costs are increasing, reported MarketWatch. Full
Story PW Markets will close after 67 years
in business. The company is seeking to lease all its seven existing locations.
Increasing competition is the biggest reason for the pending closure, according
to store representative John Machado, SVP at Colliers International, reported
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. Full
Story (Free Registration Required) Charlie
Brown's Steakhouse formed a partnership with New Jersey Department of Agriculture's
Jersey Fresh program, serving local produce through four produce distributors
in the area, reported The Packer Online. Full
Story (Subscription Required) Doctors
at three health centers in Massachusetts began advising patients to eat "prescription
produce" from local farmers' markets, in an effort to fight obesity in
children of low-income families. The doctors will give coupons amounting to $1
a day for each member of a patient's family to promote healthy meals, reported
The New York Times on the Web. A foundation called CAVU, for Ceiling and
Visibility Unlimited, sponsors the clinics that are administering the project.
The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and Wholesome Wave each contributed
$10,000 in seed money. Full
Story (Free Registration Required) In
response to a recent Daily Brief survey, "How do you think your business will
fare in the second half of 2010 as compared to the first half," 32% voted
Better, 25% voted Worse, 36% voted The Same and 7% voted Don't Know.International
News Kraft is focusing efforts on the Asia-Pacific region,
mostly on the strength of the Indian and Chinese consumer markets, and is seeking
to raise the profile of Cadbury  products
in China and increase investments in other developing markets. The company is
in the process of consolidating the Beijing headquarters of Cadbury to Kraft's
Shanghai offices, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required) Barilla's
fully-owned subsidiary Lieken AG agreed to sell German bakery chain Kamps to
Germany-based ECM Equity Capital Management GmbH, reported Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Full
Story Health News A
total of 1,097 foodborne disease outbreaks were reported in 2007 to
CDC, according to the agency's Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks
- U.S., 2007 report. In the 235 outbreaks where one food commodity was identified,
the largest number of illnesses listed poultry (691 illnesses), beef (667 illnesses)
and leafy vegetables (590 illnesses) as the cause. Full
Story, Full
Report Washington
News A
compromise food safety bill that reportedly has bipartisan support was released
by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) via a "manager's amendment"
that omits a ban on the use of BPA in plastic containers. The House passed a version
of the bill in 2009 and with Congress in recess until September, the food safety
legislation appears to moving to the forefront once again, reported The Des
Moines Register. Full
Story, Revised
Bill 
Ohio
Governor Ted Strickland, organizations representing livestock producers and other
agricultural interests and the Humane Society of the U.S. formed a joint agreement
which will result in the Humane Society not pursuing a ballot initiative this
fall and enhance animal welfare and animal care standards. The sides agreed
to bar new construction of egg farms that pack birds in cages, and to phase out
the tight caging of pregnant sows within 15 years and of veal calves by 2017,
reported The New York Times on the Web. Full
Story (Free Registration Required), Full
Release Market News Cool
early-summer temperatures in Mexico combined with colder-than-usual winter temperatures
in Peru will create a demand-exceeds-supply situation this summer for asparagus,
reported The Produce News. Full
Story 
The
South Florida Water Management District board approved a state plan to buy
26,791 acres for about $197.4 million from U.S. Sugar, reported Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Full
Story | 
