May 04, 2011

IFDA News

The IFDA Sales & Marketing Leadership Committee met for the first time May 3 at IFDA's office in McLean, VA. The new committee was formed to provide direction on research or services that IFDA can provide to benefit sales and marketing executives at IFDA member companies. The agenda included a presentation from Julie Hoffmeyer, a senior account executive with NPD Group, Foodservice, and discussion of projects the committee will guide in 2011. Potential projects identified by the committee involve social media and consumer information. Also during the meeting Ted Meyer, director of sales at Kohl Wholesale, was elected as Chairman of the committee and Matt Malloy, sales manager at Southern Foods, was elected vice chairman. If you have questions about the committee, contact Mendy Cunningham at (703) 532-9400 or by email at mhcunningham@ifdaonline.org

Operator News

Consumer spending at restaurants is expected to drop as spring turns to summer as a result of increased costs for gas, food and clothing, according to Kurt Salmon's Restaurant Spending Trajectory. "Quick-service and lower-tier full-service concepts in particular will feel the pressure, as lower-income consumers say they are almost twice as likely to reduce restaurant spending compared to higher-income consumers," noted a Kurt Salmon retail and restaurant strategist. Full Story

Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering, reported Reuters. Full Story

White Castle added online ordering to all of its 400-plus locations in 11 states following a test in Minneapolis in March, reported The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Retail News

SuperValu plans to convert several of its individual private label brands into one national brand called "Essential Everyday," reported The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. commissioned an economic analysis that looked at building 17 additional stores in Portland, OR. The company operates four locations in the region currently. The analysis considers a range of stores in the tri-county area, including eight in Portland proper, reported OregonLive.com. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Some 91% of retailers currently have a mobile strategy in place or in development, up from 74% a year ago, while 72% will increase their spending on social networks this year over last year, according to The State Of Retailing Online 2011: Marketing, Social, and Mobile report from Forrester Research Inc. Retailers reported that 21% of all mobile traffic is coming from tablets, while 48% of retailers have a mobile-optimized website, 35% deployed an iPhone app and 15% offer an Android app and an iPad app. Full Story

Several specialty grocers are reportedly looking into opening locations in North Texas following the news that Trader Joe's was expanding to the area, reported The Dallas Morning News. Full Story (Subscription Required)

Industry News

ConAgra Foods Inc. offered to buy Ralcorp Holdings Inc. for about $4.9 billion. Purchasing Ralcorp would allow ConAgra to almost quadruple sales of store-brand foods, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

U.S. food prices may be headed for a sustained bout of inflation, according to a Dallas Federal Reserve Bank researcher. Prices for "more-processed" foods rose at an annualized 5.2% rate in January and February, compared with a decline of 0.9% in the first six months of last year, reported Reuters. Full Story

View Today! The May 4 edition of New Products Hits and Misses with Phil Lempert evaluates: Wheat Thins Stix Chipotle Pepper Flavor, Log Cabin Original Syrup, Island Delights Coconut Haystacks Dark Chocolate Coffee Natural Flavor, Custom Choice Cereal Southern Hospitality Blend and Lotus Biscoff Spread. Click here to view.

Merisant will roll out Equal in yellow, green and pink packaging in an effort to counter the product's 10% sales drop in the past year. The company is marketing sweetener caddies with all four colors to restaurants, reported Bloomberg Businessweek. Full Story

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

Some food-product makers are increasing their use of powdered cellulose, minuscule pieces of wood pulp or other plant fibers that can improve the texture of packaged food products, including bottled chocolate milk shakes or shredded cheese. Cellulose can thicken or stabilize foods, replace fat and boost fiber content and cut the need for ingredients like oil or flour, which are rising in cost, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Martifer SGPS SA's Prio Foods invested as much as $138 million in a new factory in Romania. Prio Foods will start operating a crushing unit for vegetable oil production at the facility, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

Indonesia's food and beverage sector is expected to grow by 5% year-on-year in the second quarter, up from 3% growth in the first quarter. The increase in agricultural commodity prices and imported products contributed to the slow growth early this year, reported Reuters. Full Story

Health News

Lower sodium excretion was associated with an increased risk of heart-related deaths and higher sodium excretion was not linked to increased risks for high blood pressure or complications from heart disease in a study published in Journal of the American Medical Association. The Polish and Belgian researchers acknowledge that all of the study volunteers were younger and white, and that may have skewed the results, reported HealthDay. Full Story

Washington News

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) introduced the Ethanol Subsidy and Tariff Repeal Act, which will fully eliminate the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) and fully repeal the tariff on imported ethanol. The bill calls for the VEETC subsidy to be repealed by July 1. Full Story

Over 42 million meals, 31.2 million lunches and 11 million breakfasts were served on a typical school day in fiscal year 2009 to children through USDA's National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. ERS found that average foodservice costs per reimbursable meal (including all breakfasts and lunches) in 21 locations (rural, urban, and suburban areas across seven U.S. regions) range from 21% below the national average for the rural Southwest to 19% above in the suburban Midwest. ERS Report

Market News

California's abundant rainfall, a growing consumer demand and a tightening worldwide honey supply led to record high prices for honey and honeybees. Last year, beekeepers in California made 27.5 million-lbs., a 134% increase over 2009. Retail prices for honey have been climbing, seeing $5.22 in April, up from $3.78 for the same month in 2005, with mostly steady increases in between, according to the National Honey Board, reported The Fresno Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Vidalia onion farmers in Georgia are expecting a good crop but lower prices than last year. Growers attribute the falling prices to supply and demand, as farmers are now seeing a surplus, reported Forbes. Full Story

Flood worries along the Mississippi River are spreading downstream, which may lead to additional levee breaching by the Army Corps of Engineers. It could be late summer or early fall before the water fully drains off the land, and sediment and moisture could do lasting damage. Meanwhile, a group of 25 farmers sued the U.S. government in Missouri, arguing that their land had been flooding by a breached levee without adequate compensation, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

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