July 01, 2008

The industry needs to implement a system for tracking fruits and vegetables from the field to the table.

• Agree - 70%
• Disagree - 30%
  

IFDA News

Transportation supervisors from across the food industry use the Food Industry Truck Driving Championship to highlight safety and reward their top drivers. The event, taking place September 12-14, 2008, in Orlando, FL, incorporates a written exam, vehicle inspection, and driving course problems that test drivers on every level. The registration deadline for this event is just 45 days away and advance reservations are available for drivers. For full program information, click here.

Distributor News

As of June 30, U.S. average diesel fuel prices were $4.64 per gallon, down 0.3 cents per gallon from a week ago, and up $1.81 from one year ago. Full Story

Operator News

Burger King Corp. launched a new kids meal featuring a 4-oz. serving of Kraft macaroni and cheese, lowfat milk and "Fresh Apple Fries," which are skinless red apples sliced to resemble french fries and served with low-fat caramel dipping sauce. The Kids Meal is available in the U.S. as a permanent menu item for a suggested retail price of $3.49. Full Story

McDonald's budget for global digital advertising is growing as it readies for the Beijing Olympics. In Japan, almost all of McDonald's marketing around the Olympics will take place through consumers' mobile phones. It now devotes between 8% and 10% of its marketing spending to digital, up from 2% four years ago, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Yum! China's quick-service restaurant brand, East Dawning, will be expanding nationwide in 2008, according to China Daily, which examines the competition in China's fast food industry. Full Story

Retail News

Waiting in a line for longer than four minutes can jeopardize a customer's loyalty, according to a study conducted by M/A/R/C Research. Some 10% of shoppers were exasperated enough to leave a checkout line if the wait was lengthy. Full Study

Sam's Club is now offering consumers milk in the form of a square shaped gallon, which is designed to cut back on packaging and shipping waste. However, many consumers dislike the shape, claiming that it makes milk difficult to pour, reported The New York Times on the Web. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Reed's, Inc. formed an expanded partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market. Under the agreement, Sprouts will carrying the full line of Reed's and Virgil's natural sodas throughout all of its 26 locations in Arizona, Texas, California and Colorado. Full Story

Aldi plans to open one store every week in the UK, with the goal of opening 1,500 stores over the next five years. The retailer will spend approximately £1.5 billion to reach its goal, reported Daily Telegraph. Full Story

PRIMAX rolled out its first Listo! convenience store in Lima, Peru. The new store will serve as a prototype for the company's recently acquired 165 former Shell locations in Peru and 60 in Ecuador. Full Story

Industry News

Sharp rises in prices of grains, milk, meat, vegetables and fuel have left school cafeteria directors struggling to break even. Many school districts are seeing double-digit increases. Districts are responding to the changes in different ways, but the most common responses are raising prices and examining every expenditure, according to Arizona Daily Star. Full Story

Campbell Soup Company acquired the Wolfgang Puck soup business from Country Gourmet Foods. Separately, Campbell entered into a master licensing agreement with Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. for the use of the Wolfgang Puck brand on soup, stock and broth products in North American retail locations, with an option to extend the brand into other related categories. Full Story

There is strong correlation between reducing loss prevention spending and increased retail shrink, according to a survey conducted by Preference Research and released by Checkpoint Systems. Some 77% of respondents reported cutting or delaying spending in their loss prevention budgets during past weak economies, with 61% reporting their spending was not restored to prior levels until after the recession. Another 33% stated that their loss prevention spending was not restored at all. Full Story

Latest sales & earnings for food related companies (Updated Daily)

Tyson Foods, Inc. purchased 51% ownership of Godrej Foods, Ltd., a subsidiary of Godrej Agrovet, Ltd. The joint venture between Godrej Agrovet and Tyson will be called Godrej Tyson Foods. Full Story

Smithfield Foods, Inc. entered into an agreement with COFCO Limited for the sale of 4.95% of its common stock. COFCO Limited is owned by the government of the People's Republic of China and is an agricultural trading and processing company. Full Story

TerraCycle partnered with several food companies to collect some of their packaging waste and sew, fuse or weave it into new products - a process known as "upcycling." Many of these items are now shipped to Target Corp. and Walgreen stores, and may be sold in the future at Wal-Mart and Home Depot. The company signed deals or is in talks with manufacturers including Kraft Foods Inc., Kellogg Co., Clif Bar & Co. and Coca-Cola Co. Kraft will begin putting TerraCycle's logo on some of its products' packaging to encourage "upcycling," reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Inbev will remain firm on its $65 per share bid for Anheuser Busch. "In addition to guaranteeing immediate value for Anheuser-Busch shareholders, our proposal is predicated on an established track record of international expansion and consistent growth in profitability," explained InBev CEO, Carlos Brito. Full Story

The Miller Brewing Company will not be reformulating its caffeinated alcohol brands in the U.S., claiming the products are fully compliant with regulatory and labeling guidelines in the country, reported Food Production Daily. Full Story

Fleischmann's Yeast is increasing its prices of fresh yeast by 10 cents per pound and dry yeast by 18 cents per pound, effective Aug. 4. Full Story

Overall demand for enzymes will increase by 6% between 2007-2012, according to The Freedonia Group. Yet in the U.S., demand for enzymes for use in food and beverage processing is predicted to grow by only 4.1%, to reach $275 million by 2012, reported Food Navigator. Full Story

Blue Pacific Flavors Inc. entered into an exclusive license agreement with The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Limited. Full Story

The agricultural sector in China's Sichuan province suffered approximately $6 billion in damages as a result of a recent earthquake, according to UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. Overall, livestock losses are estimated at about $2 billion in the area. Additionally, a significant portion of wheat crops could not be harvested and much of the wheat that was harvested was damaged in the earthquake. FAO Report

China's Zhongpin Inc. completed the equipment installation phase at its new plant and will start production immediately. The new factory increases the company's total production capacity for chilled and frozen pork by 22% to 391,560-metric tons. Full Story

Health News

The Consumer Federation of America developed Alcohol Facts, a side-by-side comparison of the alcohol, calorie and carbohydrate content per serving of the 26 top selling domestic and imported alcohol brands. Alcohol Facts also explains what constitutes a standard drink: 12-oz. of regular beer, 5-oz. of wine and 1.5-oz. of 80-proof distilled spirits. Full Story

The market for obesity fighting consumer staples could hit $1.4 trillion by 2012 as the world's population continues to gain weight, according to a report from Credit Suisse projects. The World Health Organization estimates that, in addition to the 400 million adults who are obese, more than 1.6 billion adults are now overweight, reported Food Production Daily. Full Story

Washington News

Food safety inspectors are struggling with swelling volumes of imports and critics say the increase of imported goods is too much for the limited number of inspectors at the nation's 300 ports of entry to effectively screen. Concerns about the nation's food inspection system are gaining urgency and according to officials the system of border inspections is badly strained and in urgent need of repair, reported The Dallas Morning News. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Western Growers is urging the House Committee on Agriculture to hold hearings on the salmonella outbreak associated with fresh, red round, roma and plum tomatoes. The agriculture trade association wants the House Committee to focus on FDA and CDC procedures to determine the source or the cause of this outbreak. Full Story

The Organic Trade Association and the International Dairy Foods Association filed lawsuits against the Ohio Department of Agriculture, reported The Associated Press. The trade groups are suing over a new state rule that reportedly restricts how consumers are informed about whether milk is made from cows that were given a synthetic hormone. Full Story, OTA Release, IDFA Release

Market News

In 2008, Wal-Mart expects to source about $400 million in locally grown produce from farmers across the U.S. to keep prices down. Partnerships with local farmers grew by 50% over the past two years. Full Story

Traffic at Sacramento-region farmers markets is up about 25% over last year. The increase was tied to the weak economy as well as to the continuing popularity of locally grown food, reported The Sacramento Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Australia's Buderin Ginger signed a letter of intent to acquire all of the assets of Hawaii's MacFarms, and to lease a 3,903 acre macadamia orchard owned by Kapua Orchard Estates, an affiliate of MacFarms, reported The West Australian. Full Story

The National Mango Board rolled out a series of initiatives to increase consumers' familiarity with mangoes. Currently, the board is focused on increasing the presence of mangoes on restaurants' menus throughout the U.S., reported Supermarket News. Full Story

The Spreckels Sugar plant in Mendota, CA will close Sept. 1. However, area sugar-beet farmers are seeking to form a cooperative and keep the plant open, reported The Fresno Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

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