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April 25, 2011 | |
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Operator NewsSeattle's Best Coffee, which has 325 namesake cafes, is sold in more than 50,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada, 12 times as many as a year ago. The company aims to expand the product to 100,000 retail locations, including mass retailers and convenience, drug, and grocery stores, as well as mom-and-pop businesses, reported Bloomberg Businessweek. Full Story Twenty-unit Italian chain Francesca's Restaurants plans to open 60 national locations. The founder of the chain is looking at California, Arizona, North Carolina, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Indianapolis. Each location will be company-owned and operated, not franchised, reported Chicago Tribune. Full Story (Free Registration Required)
Retail NewsWal-Mart Stores Inc. is testing home grocery delivery in San Jose, CA with the "Walmart To Go," program, allowing customers to order groceries from the company's website. Wal-Mart, which stated the launch is a limited test only, will then drive the goods over to customers' homes at their time of choice, reported The Associated Press. Full Story Wegmans agreed to stop using a script letter W as a logo on its products to settle a lawsuit filed by Walgreens. Wegmans will stop using its W logo by June 30, 2012, but retains the right to use the full name "Wegmans" written in the same script, reported The Buffalo News. Full Story Industry NewsEggland's Best Inc. sold about 2.5 billion branded eggs and registered retail sales of $650 million last year. The company posted average sales growth of 14% a year over the past 14 years, and its sales represent 85% of the specialty egg category. November to January is the biggest season for egg sales due to increased baking over the holidays, according to its president and CEO, reported The Record. Full Story New! The Apr. 25 edition of the Lempert Report, featuring Phil Lempert, examines the era of extreme couponing and how to attract teens to your store. Click here to view. More than a fifth of consumers research food and beverages online before shopping, leading 83% of consumer-product companies to plan investment increases in shopper marketing over the next three years. Some 55% of marketers claim shopper marketing is their top investment with spending increases topping 5% annually, according to a Booz & Co. survey, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required) Medisyn Technologies is licensing new ingredients to Kraft Foods that may add health and wellness benefits to the company's products. Medisyn uses proprietary mathematical formulas and software to find ways to enhance food, reported The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Full Story (Free Registration Required) Weight Watchers is targeting more men, believing they are more apt to use its mobile tools, including its iPhone and Droid apps. Roughly 90% of clients in the commercial-weight-loss category are female, according to Marketdata Enterprises, reported Advertising Age. Full Story (Free Registration Required) The Kellogg Company created a new division handling its operations in Russia and certain other emerging markets. This move by the company is a part of a realignment of its European operations, which created three divisions. The new unit will overlook Kellogg Company's operations in markets like Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, reported eMoneyDaily. Full Story
Health NewsMost Americans mistakenly believe sea salt is a low-sodium alternative to regular table salt, according to a survey by the American Heart Association. Some 61% of respondents incorrectly agreed that sea salt is a low-sodium alternative to table salt. Most Americans also believe drinking wine is good for their heart but are unaware of recommended alcohol limits. Full Story Washington NewsSmall farmers and food producers are awaiting clarification of new rules that will be implemented by the new Food Safety Modernization Act. The law exempts small businesses selling less than $500,000 in the same state within 275-mi. of the food production from many of the new regulations, including developing hazard analyses and implementing preventive measures though all farms will be affected by new produce production regulations regardless of size, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Market NewsTotal frozen fruit stocks were down 11% from last month and down 16% from a year ago. Total frozen vegetable stocks were down 10% from last month and down 11% from a year ago. Total frozen poultry supplies on Mar. 31 were up 2% from the previous month and up 3% from a year ago. Total red meat supplies in freezers were down 1% from the previous month but up 13% from last year. USDA Cold Storage Report Corn may become costlier than wheat for the first time since 1984 as demand for livestock feed and ethanol grows. Futures will average a record $8 a bushel in the three months ending Sept. 30, more than the $7.70 a bushel estimated for wheat, claimed an agricultural commodity analyst at Standard Chartered Plc. Corn will be 11% more expensive than wheat in three months, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., reported Bloomberg Businessweek. Full Story South Florida is finishing its spring celery production. The deal, which usually starts in mid- to late December, is expected to end by late April. Despite weather challenges, the season has been strong for Florida celery, reported The Packer Online. Full Story Florida blueberry growers earned $7.50 per-lb. for their fruit at the start of the 2011 season and the price stayed above $7 for the first three weeks in April. The state is the only source of fresh blueberries to the U.S. market from early April to the end of May. That exclusive window traditionally meant high farm prices for six to eight weeks, generating enough to sustain growers for the year, reported The Lakeland Ledger. Full Story (Free Registration Required) |
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