Industry News

Vietti Foods was acquired by Dutch food company Zwanenberg Food Group USA. The acquisition includes 15 brands and a company manufacturing plant. Brands also include Varallo, Famous Foods, Southgate, Texas Pete and Louisiana Brand. The company's chili, stews, pastas, soups, corned beef hash and other products will continue to be made at the Nashville plant. Zwanenberg is also planning a $10 million expansion at its Cincinnati-area plant, reported The Tennessean. Full Story

The Daily Update is a substantially abbreviated version of Today In Food. You can get a subscription to Today In Food, which usually has over 30 news items each day, as well as access to the archives for just $49.95 per year. Click here to sign up.

New! The Mar. 2 edition of New Products Hits and Misses with Phil Lempert features: Kellogg's Special K Cracker Chips Baked Snacks Sour Cream & Onion Flavor, Fruitzio Freeze Dried Fruit Snacks Kiwi Flavor, Gluten Freeda Wheat Free Gluten Free Instant Oatmeal Variety Pack, Chobani Champions Honey Nana Flavor and Rooibee Red Tea Watermelon Mint Flavor. Click here to view.

Many retailers are putting new guidelines in place to simplify fish-buying for consumers and promote their "green" credentials. Companies such as Wal-Mart Inc. and Kroger Co. are stocking more environmentally friendly seafood, while SuperValu is developing a sustainable-seafood strategy. Safeway is implementing standards developed with FishWise and aims to have nothing but sustainable seafood on its shelves by 2015, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Pizza Hut and Yum! Restaurants International opened a new 177,000-sq. ft. headquarters that includes a test kitchen and life-size replicas of Pizza Hut dine-in and carry-out restaurants, reported The Dallas Morning News. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Southern Family Markets launched a new concept, Buy 4 Less Discount Foods. The store, which opened in Athens, GA, offers discounted items, bonus packs and big-pack quantities, reported The Birmingham News. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Latest sales & earnings for food related companies (Updated Daily - FI Membership Required)

Retailer growth plans were up 30% in 2010 over levels recorded last year, according to ChainLinks Retail Advisors' National Retailer and Restaurant Expansion Guide. "Following the strong performance during this year's holiday sales season, many chains further upped their growth plans. Right now, expansion plans are up 40% over last year's levels," stated ChainLinks Research Director Garrick Brown. The most active retailers include 7-Eleven, Aldi, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Save-A-Lot. Full Story

Food Institute News

Purchase Today! Dietary Supplements: A Regulatory Guide, authored by Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Bode Matz, covers all aspects of FDA regulation of dietary supplements under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as well as Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulation of dietary supplement advertising. For more information and to purchase the book, click here.

Little Crow Foods Now in the fourth generation of family ownership, Warsaw, IN-based Little Crow Foods still believes in building long-term relationships with their customers and consumers by providing quality, taste and value in every package opened. For over a century, Little Crow Foods has produced their own brands of dry blended food products, as well as many products for other food companies. To learn more about this 29-year Food Institute member, please visit: www.littlecrowfoods.com. Interested in seeing your company featured here? Email us for more details.

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International News

Global freight rates are increasing as countries look for greater supplies on commodities such as grain. Freight futures indicated earnings on the transpacific route would edge up 7% from March to May, according to the Baltic Exchange. Average earnings for panamax vessels on one transpacific route, BPHJ, soared as much as 48% from February to May last year, and 186% during the same period in 2009, reported Reuters. Full Story

Novelis sold its printed confectionery foil packaging business in Bridgnorth, UK to Discovery Foils. The business produces multi-colored printed foil used as packaging for confectionery products. Full Story

Health News

Individuals who get plenty of potassium-rich foods in their diet may be less likely to suffer a stroke, according to research published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology. For every 1,640-milligram increase in people's daily potassium intake, the odds of suffering a stroke declined by 21%, reported Reuters. Full Story

Washington News

A U.S. District Court Judge rejected a request from two Southern Oregon commercial fishermen for a preliminary injunction prohibiting Pacific Seafood from communicating with Ocean Gold, an allied processor, about how much to pay for whiting and which boats to buy from. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs' attorney failed to prove that Pacific Seafood used its market share to suppress prices paid to fishermen, reported OregonLive.com. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Market News

CHS Inc. signed letters of intent with grain partners to build state-of-the-art shuttle train loading elevators in Montana, Nebraska and North Dakota, with completions estimated over the next 12 to 18 months. Full Story