July 09, 2008

Do you support drilling in the nation's coastal areas that are currently closed to exploration if the drilling is conducted under strict environmental controls?

• Yes - 50%
• No - 50%
  

Comments from Survey Respondents:

• "We need to be more self supportive as a nation, instead of relying on other countries as we do."
• "Drilling is drilling... no matter how you go about it, it still hurts the environment."

Operator News

Brandweek spoke with DineEquity CEO Julia Stewart about how she turned around IHOP and how she plans to do the same for Applebee's. Following a new brand strategy put into place six years ago, IHOP experienced 21 consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth. Full Story

Select restaurants in McDonald's Southwest region will get McCafé coffee shops prior to the national rollout, which is expected in the first half of 2009, a spokeswoman for the chain's Southwest region said. The first McCafé in New Mexico could be phased in before the end of the year, reported New Mexico Business Weekly. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

PURE Taqueria, LLC signed a multiunit development agreement with Dos Compadres, LLC for the metro Atlanta area market. Dos Compadres secured the rights to open five PURE Taqueria restaurants within the next five years. Full Story

Stockholders of Max & Erma's Restaurants Inc. approved the sale of the company to G&R Acquisition for about $10 million, reported The Earth Times. Full Story

Despite a 4% decline in the number of milkshakes restaurants served in 2008, marketers are still appealing to consumers' sense of nostalgia and comfort with the recent increase of hand-spun shakes. Opposed to regular fast-food milk shakes, each time someone orders these beverages at Chick-fil-A or Wendy's, for example, an employee mixes at least part of it by spinning ingredients with a blender, reported The Charlotte Observer. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Denny's is launching its new take out breakfast program B-FST 2GO, and offering full breakfast take out in customized Denny's Dome packaging. Full Story

South Korea will require most restaurants to specify its beef's country of origin beginning this week. The new directive will affect 640,000 restaurants in the country, and noncompliance may result in a $4,800 fine, reported UPI.com. Full Story

Retail News

Several retailers are investing money into standing out from the crowd, hoping to grab market share. Wal-Mart is touting its commitment to low prices and promoting special deals to help consumers stretch their dollars. Aldi Group is also promoting its no-frills, deep-discount format in a series of television advertisements that stress its low prices on private-label products, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Meanwhile, as part of a national expansion Aldi Inc. aims to open 100 stores in 2008. The company recently opened its 30th Northeast Ohio unit and is planning to open stores in Chardon, North Ridgeville, Lyndhurst and North Olmsted in 2009, and in Strongsville and Euclid in 2010, reported The Plain Dealer. Full Story

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may increase the number of Canadian supercenters it opens this year, which will put more pressure on grocers in Canada to reduce food prices, stated BMO Capital Markets analyst David Hartley. Wal-Mart may expand with 40 or 50 Canadian stores, with half being new supercenters and a third from conversions of other sites to the larger format by the end of January, according to Mr. Hartley, who cited unidentified people in the "real estate world," reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

The Quebec drugstore chain Jean Coutu Group Inc. is putting on hold plans to expand into Ontario. "At this time, it's preferable for Jean Coutu and its shareholders that we invest in our core market and make sure we keep our leadership" in Quebec, said Francois Coutu, the drugstore chain's President and CFO. That does not mean Jean Coutu will not continue to be on the lookout for any interesting acquisition opportunities in Ontario, he added. He made the comments after Jean Coutu reported another significant loss on its investment in Rite Aid Corp., according to The Globe and Mail. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Waitrose plans to launch its first grocery convenience store early next year to take on Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's and Tesco. The convenience stores are likely to be sized between 3,000-sq. ft. and 4,000-sq. ft., reported The Independent. Full Story

Industry News

Procter & Gamble Co. will raise its prices by as much as 16% in September or October due to high fuel and raw material costs, according to a company spokesman. P&G already increased prices by 6% or more earlier this year, reported The Cincinnati Enquirer. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

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

The Grocery Manufacturers Association appointed a search committee that is in the process of finding the right person to lead the organization. Current GMA President and CEO, Cal Dooley, was named President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), and will assume his new duties at ACC on Sept. 8. Full Release

Biofuels reportedly forced global food prices up by 75%, according to a leaked World Bank report. However, the U.S. government claims biofuels are responsible for only 3% of the increase, reported The Toronto Star. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Cargill is starting to roll out Truvia, its natural, no-calorie sweetener, and expects the product to be on grocery shelves across the U.S. sometime this fall, reported Reuters. Coca-Cola Co. co-developed the product with Cargill and has exclusive rights to use Truvia in beverages. Full Story

Hearst Magazines and MSN partnered to develop and launch a food-related website - Delish.com, also available at delish.msn.com. The new website will feature thousands of recipes, food related articles, photo galleries, video and interactive tools. Full Story

Quebec decided to lift a ban on selling yellow margarine. The province had little choice but to change the regulations after an interprovincial trade panel ruled the practice discriminatory three years ago, according to Toronto Star. Full Story

The European Commission launched a plan to provide free fruit and vegetables to schools across Europe in a drive to curb child obesity. The commission aims to spend $141 million annually, a sum to be matched by participating governments, reported BBC News. Full Story

Health News

Green tea may protect heart arteries by keeping them flexible and relaxed, and therefore better able to withstand changes in blood pressure, according to a study. Those who drank green tea showed greater dilation of their heart arteries on an ultrasound 30 minutes later than those drinking either diluted caffeine or hot water, reported Time. Full Story

Expectant mothers that consume probiotics may help their infants fight off respiratory infections, according to new research published in the medical journal Pediatrics, reported Reuters. Full Story, Study Abstract

Washington News

USDA agriculture secretary Ed Schafer expressed confidence in the nation's food safety system, but stated the meat processing industry will always face challenges because the bacteria that animals carry evolves, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

The New York Times on the Web calls for the U.S. to institute an effective system to track food from the farm to the table "before even more people fall ill from tainted foods" in an editorial. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Anheuser-Busch sued InBev, claiming it devised an "illegal plan" to mislead Anheuser-Busch shareholders with its $46 billion takeover bid. Anheuser-Busch is asking the court to stop InBev from trying to sway shareholders to take the deal, reported USA Today. Full Story

The California Restaurant Association filed suit against the City and County of San Francisco and the San Francisco Department of Public Health to overturn its "menu labeling" ordinance. Filed in federal court on July 3, the suit claims that the San Francisco ordinance is preempted by current law. Full Story

The number of food insecure people in the 70 lower income countries rose by 133 million in 2007, according to USDA's Food Security Assessment report. The food security situation of these countries is projected to deteriorate over the next decade, and the distribution gap is projected to rise from 44 million tons in 2007 to more than 57 million tons in 2017. USDA Report

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) released $1.1 million in unspent freeze funds to provide relief to 49 Emergency Food Assistance Program food banks that service all California counties. CDSS estimates that food banks will be able to purchase as much as 1.35 million pounds of food with the additional $1 million. Full Story

FDA will soon make available a draft guidance for industry entitled "Voluntary Third-Party Certification Programs for Foods and Feeds." This draft guidance describes the general attributes FDA believes a voluntary third-party certification program should have in order to help ensure its certification is a reliable reflection that the foods and feeds from certified establishments are safe and meet applicable FDA requirements. The agency will publish a Federal Register Notice on July 10 that will include a working link to the document. Full Notice

In an upcoming Federal Register Notice, FDA will seek third-party certification bodies that certify foreign processors of aquacultured shrimp for compliance with FDA's Seafood Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point regulations to volunteer to participate in a pilot program. The goal of the pilot program is to gather technical and operational information that will assist FDA in determining its infrastructure needs, as well as the process for evaluating thirdparty certification programs, in order to assist FDA in moving towards broader recognition of voluntary third-party certification programs, including third party certification programs for aquacultured shrimp, at a later time. Full Notice

Market News

More than 4,800 dairy cows at risk of carrying tuberculosis are being slaughtered in central California, where nearly 16,000 cattle in the country's largest milk-producing region were quarantined, according to federal officials. Officials have not released the identities and locations of the three dairies where cows tested positive for the disease. However, the discovery has already prompted changes in interstate shipping regulations, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

A marketing and distribution company of locally grown products in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties, Suncoast Food Alliance, delivers produce from West Central Florida farmers to the area's restaurants. Suncoast is working with farmers to expand their crops to meet the needs of the restaurants, finding a demand for more produce like heirloom radishes, leafy green vegetables, lettuce, green beans, Russian fingerling potatoes and French creamer potatoes, according to Bradenton Herald. Full Story

Mexican guava growers plan to export their tropical fruit to the U.S. by year's end. Guava exports could earn $80 million in the first year and eventually reach $400 million annually, noted Mexican authorities, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

Agricultural officials are assessing potential damage to California's Santa Barbara County fruit trees near the fire lines. The county agricultural commissioner claims the fire singed avocado and citrus groves near the bottom of the steep hills that are burning, reported California Farm Bureau.

USDA released Conservation Reserve Program acreage for livestock grazing in counties recently designated as Presidential Disaster Areas because of flooding. The release permits grazing only in counties designated as primary and contiguous disaster areas and only because of flooding. Full Notice

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