Industry News

Consumers' food preferences are being driven to "extremes," according to new research from Rabobank. Customers continue to be driven by factors other than price, making purchases based on healthy lifestyles, convenience, or other influences. Full Story

U.S. sales will remain sluggish through the holidays and well into next year, according to the National Retail Federation. Overall retail sales are expected to slow, with total growth for 2008 at 3.5% compared with last year's 3.7% increase, reported Reuters. Full Story

Wendy's is offering a 99-cent Double Stack cheeseburger across the U.S. The sandwich will replace the Stack Attack on Wendy's Value Menu. Full Story

Superpremium juice drinks experienced "phenomenal growth" over the past few years, with sales jumping from 37.7 million gallons to 77.5 million gallons between 2002 and 2007, according to a report from the Beverage Marketing Corporation. Full Story

Starting early next year, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (LCB), which controls the sale of wine and spirits in the state, will begin revamping its 621 stores. The stores will get a new name and design logo as well as a new interior layout, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Latest sales & earnings for food related companies (Updated Daily)

Crayons, Inc. is introducing a line of high fructose corn syrup-free sports drinks for children that claims to address the nutrition and hydration needs of youth athletes, reported Market Watch. Full Story

Jamba Inc. will close an additional 20 stores in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The company's business model will also shift its focus from corporate store growth to franchising and in some cases re-franchising. Full Story

Giant Foods' sales are down despite price cuts and renovations, reported The Washington Post. However, sales are "going well" at several recently renovated stores, according to Ahold chief executive John Rishton, who declined to give specific figures. The company is also working on plans to increase pharmacy sales. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Fortune Brands will receive compensation in exchange for early termination of the company's distribution agreement with Pernod Ricard's Absolut vodka and other brands. Under the agreement, Pernod Ricard will pay Fortune Brands $230 million, and Fortune Brands will pay $100 million to Pernod to acquire the premium Cruzan Rum brand. Full Story

The summer 2008 issue of the Orthodox Union's Behind the Union Symbol is available online. It includes the feature "Good News for Gluten Free consumers - Now You Can Have Your Cake & Eat it Too!" Full Story

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Bashas shoppers may donate 1% of their grocery purchases to their favorite non-profit, for up to a $5,000 donation, as part of the retailer's new Shop & Give program. The program, which runs through Mar. 31, is available at all 82 Bashas' Supermarkets and Bashas' Dine stores across Arizona. Full Story

Millard Long, owner of KHI Foods, is working with Northern Kentucky restaurant owners to turn their sauce recipes into commercial jarred products. "Fifteen years ago, this would never have happened," stated Mr. Long. "But eating local has gotten big, and it's picking up steam," reported The Cincinnati Enquirer. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Freezers are being embraced again by shoppers who are stashing bulk-sized purchases of meats, fruits, and vegetables to combat rising food prices. U.S. shoppers bought more than 1.1 million freezers during the first six months of 2008, up more than 7% from the same period last year, according to NPD Group, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

Colleges and universities are increasingly offering organic coffee products, according to the Organic Coffee Collaboration, a project of the Organic Trade Association. For example, Columbia University and New York University brew organic Dallis Coffee. Equal Exchange is offered at Bennington College, Brown University, Indianapolis University, and Yale University. Full Story

Skinny Water is expanding its distribution of Zero-Calorie Skinny Water to 130 Acme Markets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. Full Story

Pizza Hut introduced a new Tuscani Pastas recipe, Premium Bacon Mac 'n Cheese. Full Story

Maggiano's Little Italy will offer Italian Harvest specials, including Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp, Sausage Rigatoni, and a Stacked Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar, through Sept. 24. Full Story

Red seaweed microparticles may provide low-cost fat replacers for food and texturizers for beverages, according to a new study published in the Journal of Food Engineering. Researchers used a high-speed shearing technique to produce a range of microparticles that could also be used as bulking agents. The procedure was developed to produce an array of agarose microparticles that could be of use in many areas throughout the food industry, according to researchers from University College Dublin, reported Food Production Daily. Full Story

Nearly 1,000 consumers are using the Ikan, a $400 home bar code scanner that resembles the average white kitchen appliance, and the number is growing 15% monthly, according to the company, reported Internet Retailer. Full Story

Growers Direct Coffee Company, Inc.'s Board of Directors established a green coffee "Board Advisory Committee" comprised of representatives from two of its coffee supplying countries, Jamaica and Papua New Guinea. Full Story

International News

Nineteen U.S. poultry producers will be barred from exporting their products to Russia because the producers ignored warnings from Russian inspectors who examined poultry companies last year, according to the country's Prime Minister, reported USA Today. Full Story

Mitsui & Co., Ltd increased its stake in Synlait Limited, a New Zealand dairy company, from 14% to 22.5%. Synlait is planning to manufacture some 30,000 metric tons of dairy products, mostly whole milk powder, for export primarily to Asia and Middle East countries. Full Story

Pharmalogica expanded its distribution of high-dose omega-3 juice drinks from 200 to 1100 retail outlets in six months. The drinks, called Smartfish, were marketed to both children and adults and are only available in the company's native Norway, though they are taking steps toward U.S. distribution, reported Food Navigator Europe. Full Story

Coca-Cola opened its second bottling plant in Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar. Full Story

Mitsubishi-Kagaku Foods will construct its first Chinese emulsification factory by spring 2009 to provide emulsifiers to the Chinese baking industry. The facility will mix emulsifiers with other food ingredients for use in breads and other baked goods, and attempts to capitalize on increased Chinese demand for emulsifiers, which will rise from $68 million in 2006 to $200 million by 2013, according to Leatherhead International, reported Food Navigator Europe. Full Story

Global Sweeteners will acquire Jinzhou Yuancheng Bio-chem Technology after receiving approval from its independent shareholders. The Hong Kong firm is one of the largest corn sweetener producers in China, and will supply Global Sweeteners with corn starch, providing the integral ingredient in its sweetener for its production facilities in Shanghai and Jinzhou, according to Food Navigator Europe. Full Story

PepsiCo and The Pepsi Bottling Group completed a joint acquisition of a 75.53% stake in JSC Lebedyansky, a Russian branded juice company. Lebedyansky is the world's sixth-largest juice manufacturer and the largest in Russia, with an estimated market share in the country of around 30% and annual revenues in 2007 of approximately $800 million from its juice business. Full Story

Some UK movie theater chains are no longer selling popcorn, as they claim that the food is noisy, messy, and downmarket. Cinema owners have liked popcorn for its profitability, as the boxes cost more to produce than the popcorn inside them, reported BBC News. Full Story

Health News

MSG consumption may increase the risk of being overweight, regardless of caloric intake, according to a new study in the Nature journal Obesity. The increased risk of weight gain was found to be 175% higher for those with a high-intake of the flavor enhancer. While animal studies have supported this theory, this is the first to show a link between MSG intake and weight gain in humans, claimed lead researcher Ka He, MD, reported Medical News Today. Full Story

The black community was targeted differently in terms of healthier-food marketing, according to a study examining marketing and advertising studies conducted between 1992 and 2006 published in the American Journal of Public Health. Data shows a disparity between marketing to white and black consumers, which creates an environment that contributes to obesity, reported Advertising Age. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Washington News

A majority of food and beverage companies participated in at least one product recall in 2007, with more than half of the losses associated with those recalls exceeding $10 million, according to a new survey by AMR Research. Some 40% of respondents incurred losses of at least $20 million in 2007. Full Story

FDA lifted its advice to consumers to avoid eating jalapeño and Serrano peppers grown, harvested, or packed in Mexico. Full Release

FDA is requesting comments, scientific data, and information that may assist the agency to improve the guidance to industry set forth in the "Guide to Minimize Microbial Food Safety Hazards for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables," issued in 1998. Specifically, FDA is seeking information about current agricultural practices and conditions used to grow, harvest, pack, cool, and transport fresh produce; risk factors for contamination of fresh produce associated with these practices; and possible measures that FDA could implement that would enhance the safety of fresh produce. Full Notice

Zentox Corp. filed a petition proposing that the food additive regulations be amended to provide for the safe use of monochloramine as an antimicrobial agent in poultry process chiller water. Full Notice

The Tennessee legislature will debate the possibility of allowing wine sales in grocery stores, and possibly wine sales over the internet, this fall. The state's malt beverage association does not want wine sales cutting into beer sales in grocery stores, and are warning that competition with big grocery stores could ruin smaller mom-and-pop operations, reported The Tennessean. Full Story

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is asking FDA to require additional tests on the sweetener stevia, including an animal study, before accepting it as Generally Regarded as Safe, or GRAS. Full Release

Market News

Monsanto Co. agreed to a five-year research and development collaboration with Evogene Ltd. aimed at discovering and delivering "novel, yield-enhancing" technologies to help farmers grow more grain. Monsanto claims the new collaboration will help support its goal of doubling yields in its core crops by 2030. Full Story

This year's Massachusetts cranberry crop is predicted to be 1.90 million barrels, up 25% from 2007, according to New England Agricultural Statistics director Gary Keough. Last year, the average price per barrel was $46.60 per 100-pound barrel, while this year's prices are edging upward of $50 per barrel, reported The Cape Cod Times. Full Story

Forecasted yields for Tennessee's major row crops are up substantially from the drought-impacted yields of last year, but less than average for the five-year period prior to 2007, according to the Tennessee Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, reported Memphis Business Journal. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

California farmers and ranchers saw a 15% gain in the sale value of its products in 2007, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Dairy remains the state's top commodity, followed by grapes, nursery products, lettuce, and almonds, reported California Farm Bureau.

USDA set forth the revised appendices to the Dairy Tariff-Rate Import Quota Licensing Regulation for the 2008 quota year. Full Notice

FSIS proposed to amend the Federal meat inspection regulations to remove the provision that states that FSIS inspection personnel will determine the disposition of cattle that become non-ambulatory disabled after they have passed ante-mortem inspection on a case-by-case basis. Full Notice

International Trade Administration issued its final results and the final partial rescission of the antidumping duty administrative review of certain frozen warmwater shrimp from Thailand. Full Notice

International Trade Administration issued a postponement of the preliminary determinations of the Antidumping Duty Investigations of citric acid and certain citrate salts from Canada and China. Full Notice

NMFS determined that the Atlantic tunas General category daily Atlantic bluefin tuna retention limit should be adjusted for the September, October-November, and December time periods of the 2008 fishing year. Full Notice