May 06, 2011

Distributor News

US Foodservice has purchased Cerniglia Products, a distributor of Italian specialty foods to the southern Wisconsin market. The company, currently based in Middleton WI, will become part of the US Foodservice - Milwaukee division, reported Refrigerated Transporter. Full Story

Operator News

Domino's Pizza Inc. will open as many as 300 stores a year over the long-term, with most being in overseas markets, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story In other company news, Domino's Pizza is expecting its food expenses to rise 3% to 5% in 2011. The company may introduce a mobile app for ordering, reported MLive.com. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Tilted Kilt hopes to have 300 locations within five years and is looking to open its first Canadian location in Vancouver by next year. The company will have 10 locations in Chicago and its suburbs by summer, the largest market for the chain. With 53 locations in 18 states and 25 more in the pipeline, other hot spots include Florida and Georgia. Revenue for 2010 was about $100 million, and the founder of the chain projects that will double this year, reported Chicago Tribune. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Some 50 hospitals in Michigan joined a statewide initiative to improve the nutrition of food served to patients, staff and visitors. Healthy Food Hospitals, organized by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association to curb obesity, aims to have all 140 Michigan hospitals join the effort, reported The Detroit News. Full Story

Airlines are bringing their food offerings to city streets. For example, Air France operated a food truck in Manhattan for a week this spring. Representatives from Austrian Airlines, equipped with "Jet Fuel" coffee packs, offered European coffee in Washington, DC and Chefs on Bikes from the airline's caterer Do & Company are distributing Austrian guglhupf, a type of bundt cake, in New York City in mid-May, reported The New York Times on the Web. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Retail News

Carrefour SA indefinitely shelved plans to spin off its property unit and fired James McCann, the head of its core French business. Carrefour planned to deliberate a three-way breakup of the company at a shareholder meeting next month, with the split meant to be part of a wider restructuring plan that also includes a $2.2 billion revamp of the retailer's signature hypermarkets. The breakup plans came under heavy fire from analysts, unions and investors who argued that Carrefour management was catering to the demands of its biggest shareholder, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Industry News

Although taste remains the top consideration (87%), 79% of consumers claim price impacts their decision when deciding which foods and beverages to purchase, a 6% increase from 2010 and a 15% increase since 2006, according to the International Food Information Council Foundation's 2011 Food & Health Survey. Healthfulness (66%), convenience (58%) and sustainability (52%) also ranked. Full Story

Nestle Waters North America signed an agreement to acquire Sweet Leaf Tea Co. Sweet Leaf had 2010 sales of $53 million, reported Austin American Statesman. Full Story

Purchased meals and beverages, which make up about 6% of personal consumption expenditures, rose nearly 2% in March from a year ago, the largest increase since November 2009, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Higher-priced menus reflect growing confidence by eateries that consumers can afford to pay more for restaurant meals, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

Households with children under 18 are responsible for roughly half of all purchases of cereal, juice, fresh meat and prepared food (dry mixes). Meanwhile, mothers with children under 18 are 19% more likely than the general population to engage in social networking, and 31% more likely to become a fan of or follow a brand, reported Nielsen. Full Story

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

The average American household spent $368 on gas in April, according to an analysis of data by the Oil Price Information Service for CNNMoney. The study also showed that U.S. households spent nearly 9% of their total income on gas last month, more than double what the average American family spent two years ago. Full Story

Energy drinks are a driving force behind a resurgence in the beverage market, according to Packaged Facts. Sales of energy drinks, along with the performance of ready-to-drink (RTD) teas and sports drinks, helped the functional and natural RTD beverage market grow to $23 billion. Full Story

Food prices remained virtually steady in April after falling in March following eight months of successive increases, according to FAO. However, while the FAO Food Price Index averaged 232 points in April, it was still 36% above April 2010 and only 2% below its peak in February 2011. Full Story

The mass cull of farm animals to control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease may be unnecessary if there is a new outbreak, according to a study published in Science. Future outbreaks might be controlled by early detection and killing only affected animals, reported BBC News. Full Story

Washington News

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk began negotiations with Congress to vote on trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Full Story

USDA issued grants to improve sustainable regional and local food systems. The grants were awarded by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. Full Story

USDA established the first Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) Project Area to promote the production of dedicated feedstocks for bioenergy. Comprising 39 contiguous counties in Missouri and Kansas, the first BCAP Project Area proposes the enrollment of up to 50,000 acres for establishing a dedicated energy crop of native grasses and herbaceous plants for energy purposes. Full Story

Market News

The initial subjective forecast for 2011 California almond production is 1.75 billion-lbs, 6% above last year, according to USDA. Estimated bearing acreage for 2011 is 750,000. Full Report

Changes are on the way for the Florida Citrus Commission following legislation placed in a budget implementing bill by Sen. J.D. Alexander. The legislation, now found in two different areas of the budget, make management changes and places a ceiling on box taxes with any increases to be approved by a legislative commission, reported The Lakeland Ledger. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Ridgeway, VA-based Blue Ridge Aquaculture harvests more than 5,000 indoor-raised tilapia every day and about four million-lbs. annually. The farm also reuses 99% of its water. At the same time, the costs of raising tilapia in the U.S. exceed the price of buying imported frozen or fresh tilapia fillets. The average wholesale cost of a frozen fillet is $1.65 and a fresh fillet is $4.65, reported The Roanoke Times. Full Story

Israel's total citrus production is estimated at 588,000 tons in 2010/11, a 2% decrease compared to the previous year. Out of the total production, approximately 193,000 tons (33%) is expected to be exported, 170,000 tons processed (29%), and the remainder consumed fresh. The expected slight decrease is mainly a result of the extremely heat waves that Israel experienced in August 2010. FAS Report

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