Retail News
Retail food prices rose an average 4.8% in 2011 - well
above the minor increases of 0.3% and 0.5% in the prior two
years and outpacing the overall inflation rate of 3.2%
for the year. The increase was still 25% less than the 6.4%
inflation rate recorded back in 2008, according to exclusive
Food Institute analysis of just-released government data.
Full
Story (FI Membership Required)
Food companies on Fortune's list of the 100
Best Companies to Work For 2012 include: Wegmans Food
Markets (No. 4); Whole Foods Market (No. 32); Nugget Market
(No. 34); General Mills (No. 63); QuikTrip (No. 66); and Starbucks
(No. 73). Full
List
Stop & Shop is reintroducing its Guaranteed Value private
label line with new products and revamped packaging. More
than 60% of the line is sold for $2 or less. Full
Story
Trader Joe's filed paperwork with Colorado officials to
open stores in the state. The company intends to start
doing business on Apr. 1. Trader Joe's reportedly inked three
contracts to lease locations in metro Denver, reported Denver
Business Journal. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
H-E-B will expand or open 22 stores in Texas and remodel
33 other locations and open its largest store in San Antonio
this year and several in northern Mexico. In Mexico, the company
plans to open five stores, raising the number of stores in
the country to 44, reported Houston Chronicle. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
In other company news, H-E-B launched "Healthy at H-E-B,"
a commitment to improve the health of Texans and provide fresh,
healthy food. H-E-B is investing an estimated $20 million
in lower prices on fresh produce, and is offering Healthy
Savings meal solutions, packages of fresh ingredients with
recipes for preparing a healthy meal for four. Full
Story
SHOPPERS Food & Pharmacy is expanding its in-store nutritional
navigation program, nutrition iQ, to include the fresh
food departments. The expanded program features additional
signage, nutritional attributes and health benefit information.
Full
Story
Organic bakery Peoria Bread Co. closed, citing the high
cost of organic flour as one of the factors. The company,
which shut down retail operations in 2010, continued to serve
a number of clients such as Naturally Yours and Hy-Vee until
the beginning of January, reported Journal Star. Full
Story
About 32% of U.S. grill owners fire up their grills for
the Big Game. The game ranks as one of the top 10 most
popular "holidays" of the year to grill, according to the
23rd annual Weber GrillWatch Survey. Full
Story
Walmart launched Get on the Shelf, a contest that allows
consumers to get their product sold on Walmart.com and
at Walmart stores. Any product in any category currently covered
by Walmart is eligible. Full
Story
New Store News: Family Dollar plans to open
seven stores in California's Fresno/Clovis market, reported
The Fresno Bee. Full
Story (Free Registration Required) ... Fresh &
Easy Neighborhood Market opened its 16th San Diego
County store, reported San Diego Union-Tribune. Full
Story ... Walmart plans to open a 136,000-sq. ft.
store in the Midpark, TX area on Jan. 25. The location will
replace a smaller store on the site, reported Dallas Business
Journal. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market launched a line of
vitamins and supplements, with the new range of 20 items containing
no artificial colors, flavors and preservatives. Full
Story
Manufacturer News
People living along the coast of Peru were eating
popcorn 1,000 years earlier than previously reported,
according to a paper in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences. Some of the oldest known corncobs,
husks, stalks and tassels dating from 6,700 to 3,000 years
ago were found at Paredones and Huaca Prieta, two mound sites
on Peru's arid northern coast. Characteristics of the cobs,
the earliest ever discovered in South America, indicate that
the sites' ancient inhabitants ate corn several ways, including
popcorn and flour corn, reported Science Daily. Full
Story
New Product News: Kraft Foods launched Kraft
Fresh Take, a blend of Kraft Natural cheeses and seasoned
breadcrumbs in six varieties. Full
Story ... Applegate Farms introduced Applegate
Naturals Family Size Chicken Nuggets. Full
Story ... CBS Foods' Original Shrimp Burger is
in over 800 retail stores including Price Chopper, Giant Eagle
and BJ's Wholesale Club. Full
Story
Eastman Kodak Company and its U.S. subsidiaries filed
voluntary petitions for chapter 11 business reorganization
in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of
New York. Kodak obtained a fully-committed, $950 million debtor-in-possession
credit facility with an 18-month maturity from Citigroup to
enhance liquidity and working capital. The company believes
that it has sufficient liquidity to operate its business during
chapter 11. Full
Story
LTS Nutraceuticals, Inc. completed its acquisition of
Biocalth International, Inc., Giantceuticals, Inc. and
HerbSource Enterprises, Inc. (collectively "Biocalth").
The combined businesses manufacture nutraceutical products
in the U.S. and market and sell in Asia and Europe, and LTS
Nutraceuticals will begin marketing and distributing Biocalth
products throughout the U.S. Full
Story
Foodservice
News
Hickory Foods purchased 25-unit Peterbrooke Chocolatier
Inc. and renamed the company Peterbrooke Chocolate Co.
Peterbrooke has five company-owned stores, all in Jacksonville,
FL, and 20 franchise stores. The company is looking to add
one or two new company-owned restaurants in Jacksonville this
year before looking to franchise elsewhere, reported Florida
Times-Union. Full
Story
Restaurant Roundup: Wingstop signed two development
agreements that will result in 14 restaurants in the Chicago
area. Full
Story ... Bennigan's plans to open 12 new locations
domestically and internationally in 2012. Full
Story ... Chili's Grill & Bar introduced a Lighter
Choices menu with seven entrees.
Full Story ... Cold Stone Creamery added Hot for
Cookie to its Hot Stone Warm and Delicious plated dessert
line. Full
Story
Schwan's Home Service is closing two of its depots in
Rocklin and Woodland, CA within the next 30 days. The
Sacramento-area closures are part of a larger cost-cutting
strategy as it readjusts its business model and focuses on
its core markets, reported The Sacramento Bee. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Facebook is expanding its Timeline feature to include
apps for Urbanspoon, Foodily, Foodspotting and Foursquare,
reported USA Today. Full
Story
Washington News
Buffets, Inc. and all of its subsidiaries filed voluntary
petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Code. As part of its restructuring plan, the company
expects to close 81 underperforming restaurants, representing
approximately 16% of its nearly 500 restaurants nationally.
The company anticipates completing the restructuring process
and exiting Chapter 11 within approximately six months. Full
Story
Global News
Carrefour is reviewing its flagship hypermarkets revamp,
vowing to focus on a more immediate plan to cut prices and
target promotions better. The retailer is relying on the upgrade
of some its Carrefour hypermarkets to more upmarket Carrefour
Planet stores in order to turn around years of underperformance
in Europe, reported Reuters. Full
Story
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. increased its share in Tesco PLC
to 5.1% from 3.2% as of Jan. 13. Berkshire Hathaway now
owns 407.6 million shares, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Toronto-based Real Food for Real Kids provides fresh,
locally sourced meals and snacks to nearly 200 daycares and
elementary schools. The company sources raw ingredients
locally whenever possible and is looking to expand to hospitals,
reported The Globe and Mail. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Best prospects for U.S. consumer oriented product exports
to El Salvador include breakfast cereals, red meats, poultry
meat, dairy products, fresh fruit and processed fruit and
vegetables. The country has 172 supermarkets, handling approximately
50% of the retail food market. USDA
Report
U.S. products that may see the best opportunities in the
French foodservice sector include fish and seafood; hormone-free
high quality beef; frozen foods including desserts; fruit
juices and sodas; quality wines; salad dressings; sauces;
spices; tex-mex products; kosher; organic and halal products;
rice; and dried vegetables. USDA
Report
Approximately 111 food franchises operate in Panama.
Strong competitors for U.S. exported snacks and processed
foods are Central America and China. However, a great deal
of this competition may be significantly reduced when the
Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Panama enters completely
into force. USDA
Report
Starbucks Corp. is finalizing its retail partnership
with India's Tata Coffee Ltd. and plans to announce
the deal by the end of this month. Tata Coffee plans to open
a Starbucks coffee shop by the end of this year, reported
Reuters. Full
Story
India's food price index declined 0.4% in the year to
Jan. 7, according to government data, compared with an
annual drop of 2.9% in the previous week. India's inflation
slowed in December to a two-year low as food price pressure
eased dramatically, reported Reuters. Full
Story
Shangri-La will ban shark fin from all of its 72 hotels,
most of which are located in Asia, the largest ban among similar
moves across Asia. In Singapore, supermarket chains FairPrice
and Carrefour will halt the sale of shark fin in outlets in
the city-state. ColdStorage, another chain with several outlets
in Singapore, banned it from its stores there last year while
The Peninsula Hotels also implemented a chain-wide ban, reported
The Wall Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Market
News
U.S. orange juice sales fell almost 9% for the four-week
period that ended Dec. 24, prior to the finding of fungicide
in Brazilian supplies, according to the deputy executive director
of the Florida Department of Citrus. The average price in
December was $6.12 per gallon, down four cents from the historic
peak in November but 8% higher than a year ago. Total sales
revenue was flat at $268.8 million for December, down 1.7%
from December 2010 and off 1% for the season to date, reported
The Lakeland Ledger. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Wholesalers in New York report a slower than normal
start of the year in produce sales. Selling produce
remains challenging for distributors, as customers remain
price oriented, reported The Packer Online. Full
Story
Lettuce markets will likely strengthen as winter
progresses, grower-shippers stated. Good weather
nationwide bodes well for shippers of iceberg, romaine and
leaf lettuces from the Arizona and California desert. Iceberg
markets are expected to strengthen soon, with romaine markets
likely start to strengthen some in February. While iceberg
and romaine supplies were abundant in mid-January, leaf supplies
were as light as they had been in some time, reported The
Packer Online. Full
Story
About 60 days of no rain in California's Fresno Valley
may lead to higher beef prices, as farmers may be forced
to trim their herds for lack of grass on grazing land, reported
The Fresno Bee. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
American Seafoods Group acquired Good Harbor Fillet LLC,
a manufacturer of value-added frozen seafood products, from
private equity group Creo Capital Partners LLC. Good Harbor
will be integrated into subsidiary American Pride Seafoods,
which includes value-added fish processing, scallop processing,
USDA-approved specialty foods workshop and cold storage warehouses.
Full
Story
Panorama Meats processed about 7,000 head of cattle in
2011 from its nine participating family ranchers across
eight states. The company, which produces 100% grass-fed,
grass-finished and natural beef, features customers such as
Whole Foods, reported Meat & Poultry. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
A new virus-resistant tomato variety developed by
vegetable breeders at Texas A&M University may provide
relief from a raging virus complex spread by the
whitefly. The outbreak destroyed virtually all field tomato
production in Rio Grande Valley, reported Western Farm
Press. Full
Story
Michigan officials are seeking a federal exemption
to use an unregistered pesticide on up to 10,000 acres of
apples trees that are susceptible to fire blight.
The bacteria causing the disease have grown resistant to current
treatments. The pesticide, kasugamycin, would control fire
blight, which has been on the uptick in Michigan orchards
the past few springs. If untreated, fire blight could decimate
the state's apple production, reported Great Lakes Echo.
Full
Story
The sugarcane beetle caused many problems for Alabama
corn growers in recent years and might be numerous again this
year, stated an Auburn University Extension entomologist.
Seed treatments and more traditional at-planting insecticides
like Lorsban and Counter have proven effective in Mississippi,
reported Southeast Farm Press. Full
Story
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