Walmart's role in helping consumers navigate through difficult economic times and what this means for manufacturers and competing retailers is examined in Information Resources Inc.'s Walmart Stores: Helping Consumers Navigate a Transforming Economy Times & Trends report. For the report, click here. (FI Membership Required)

"Real" or deflated sales at the nation's grocery stores dropped for the eleventh consecutive month during April, although the decline was less than the prior two months at 3.1%. Nonetheless, that brought "real" sales nearly 5% under a year earlier for the Jan. 1-May 1 period, according to exclusive Food Institute analysis. Full Story (FI Membership Required)

The U.S. retail market for functional foods and beverages increased 6% last year, with sales totaling almost $31 billion in 2008, according to Packaged Facts' Functional Foods and Beverages in the U.S., 4th Edition report. Total U.S. retail sales of functional foods and beverages will continue to grow at a steady pace through 2013, and reach approximately $43 billion. During the five-year period from 2003 to 2008, several functionally oriented food and beverage categories performed well, including yogurt, energy drinks, nutritional snacks and trail mixes, milk substitutes and soymilk, and refrigerated blended fruit drinks. Full Story

The confectionery industry posted a 3.7% gain for the 52-week period ending Apr. 19, according to the National Confectioners Association. Candy, chocolate and gum continued to lead the snack category in sales and ranked third in food sales overall. Premium chocolate sales rose 28% in 2008, the fourth year of double-digit growth for the category. Some 3,345 confectionery products were introduced and 3,121 snack, cookie and cracker products debuted over the past year. Leading product trends in 2009/2010 will include super fruits, classic remix, sweet sophistication and super sour. Full Story

Consumers appear to have strong brand loyalty when purchasing cheddar, shredded or sliced American cheese, according to ERS. Some regional differences in brand loyalty were observed, but the study showed little evidence of brand switching. Consumers' current choices appear to be driven mainly by past brand purchases. In some instances, brand-loyal households even appear to switch among retail stores to purchase their desired brand. ERS Report

Dr Pepper Snapple Group acquired distributor Seven-UP Bottling Co., reported The Business Journal of Milwaukee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

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

International News

Mexico continues to be the largest export market for U.S. beef and beef product exports despite the economic downturn, noted ERS. Mexico is expected to remain a vibrant market for U.S. beef exports as the market continues to evolve and the number of supermarkets grows. ERS Report

Meanwhile, Mexico's healthy beverage market grew at an average annual rate of 12% to 15% for the past few years, noted FAS. Soy based beverages experienced the most rapid increase, growing 15% to 20% a year since they were introduced to the market three years ago. Since domestic production of soybeans is almost non-existent, over 95% of the isolates, blends and proteins used in this industry are imported from the U.S. FAS Report

Washington News

The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Dr. Margaret Hamburg as FDA commissioner. On food safety, Dr. Hamburg stated she wants to shift from chasing outbreaks after they occur to preventing them in the first place. But that will require sustained effort, more money and stronger laws, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

Olive Garden will give $9 appetizer vouchers to diners who used debit or credit cards between Dec. 4, 2006 and Aug. 10, 2007 as part of a settlement of a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in 2007, accused Olive Garden of printing the last six digits of customers' credit-card numbers on receipts, exceeding the five digit limit of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, reported The Orlando Sentinel. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Market News

Argentine apple juice concentrate (AJC) production in 2009 is forecast to remain stable at 45,000 metric tons, compared to 2008. Although apple production was larger, there were significant volumes of fruit which were not harvested due to low prices and increased harvest costs, particularly during the labor union conflict with harvesters. AJC exports are expected to decrease slightly due to lower supply. Local processors do not foresee a significant decrease of the demand in the U.S., the largest (and almost only) export market for Argentine AJC, as a consequence of the current international economic crisis. ERS Report

Hawaii Oceanic Technology Inc. plans to build the world's first commercial bigeye tuna farm. The company intends to build a 12-pen farm off the west coast of the island in two years that would produce 6,000 tons of bigeye a year when fully operational, serving Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, Japan and other parts of Asia. In 2007, fishermen caught 224,921 tons of wild bigeye in the Pacific, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

Spending on acai-based products by Americans doubled to $104 million last year, according to market research firm SPINS. Since U.S. demand took off early this decade, the fruit's wholesale price in Brazil jumped about 60-fold, according to Embrapa data. In 2008, exports from Para, the South American country's main producing state, climbed 53% to account for about a quarter of output, according to the local government. However, overall production only slightly increased in the past five years, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story