Retail News
Trader Joe's, Aldi, Whole Foods and other food retailers
committed to not offer genetically engineered seafood,
according to the Campaign for Genetically Engineered (GE)-Free
Seafood. If approved in the U.S. the national retailers, along
with regional chains such as Marsh Supermarkets, PCC Natural
Markets, as well as co-ops in Minnesota, New York, California,
and Kansas, will not offer GE seafood. The majority of Americans
indicated they will not eat genetically engineered seafood,
and 91% of Americans think FDA should not allow it onto the
market, according to a Lake Research poll. Full
Story, Poll
Meijer is expanding its Made in Michigan program with
55 new grocery products grown or produced in-state by
small businesses. The grocery products will be more visible
in all of the 102 Meijer stores in Michigan, reported Michigan
Live. The new products include Brownwood Farms barbecue
sauces, Food for Thought salsas, and Great Lakes Potato Chips.
Full
Story
Researchers at DePaul University's Chaddick Institute
for Metropolitan Development cataloged Chicago's ethnic grocery
stores for location, number, types of offerings and how
they are viewed by the population. What they found was many
of the European stores were on the city's Northwest Side,
while Asian groceries tended to operate in the north and northeast.
Middle Eastern grocery stores clustered in Austin, Albany
Park and Chicago Lawn, while Mexican groceries have sprouted
up all over. Meanwhile, a relatively new store category (for
researchers) was dubbed the "hybrid," which includes large
produce-heavy markets such as Fresh Farms, Andy's Fruit Ranch
and Harvest Time, reported Chicago Tribune. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
New Store News: ShopRite plans to open a 75,000-sq.-ft.
store in Camden, NJ's food desert, reported The Philadelphia
Inquirer. Full
Story ... Sprouts
Farmers Market will open a 25,000-sq.-ft. store in Katy,
TX, its 24th in the state and the first of four stores slated
for the Houston area, reported Houston Chronicle. Full
Story
Manufacturer News
Hillshire Brands modernized the lunch meat brand by producing
transparent, shallow plastic packaging, informed by research
that found consumers want to be able to see the meat clearly.
Hillshire Farm spoke with hundreds of consumers in several
cities, focusing on women older than 25 with families, the
biggest buyers of lunch meat. The new packaging also displays
the "Fresh Pack" icon, dropped the term "deli select" in favor
of "thin sliced" to connote sliced deli meat, and added more
seasoning to make turkey appear a little bit grainier, reported
The Wall Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
General Mills reported net sales grew 8%, to $4.43 billion
in the third quarter of fiscal 2013. Products making
the strongest contributions to U.S. retail net sales growth
included new items such as Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch
cereal, Fiber One Protein bars, Yoplait Greek 100 yogurt and
Green Giant Seasoned Steamers vegetables. New acquisitions
Yoki Alimentos and Yoplait Canada contributed six points of
net sales growth. Segment operating profit also increased
11%, to $749 million. Full
Story
New Product News: Tessemae's All Natural
introduced a new salad dressing – Lemon Chesapeake. This
new flavor blends organic ingredients with the flavor of the
Chesapeake's crab spice to make a healthy, vegan-friendly
dressing. Full
Story
Foodservice
News
Taco Bell outperformed the fast-food industry by employing
a two-track strategy of offering cheap Doritos tacos for
young men and the pricier and higher-quality Cantina Bell
menu for more mature audiences. Maintaining that momentum
could be a challenge for the chain, as it has "been awhile
since they've been able to lap a good year with another good
year," according to Sanford C. Bernstein Research Analyst
Sara Senatore. Sales at established U.S. Taco Bell restaurants
rose 8% last year, more than the 7.1% rise at Chipotle, one
of the restaurant industry's best performers, reported Reuters.
Full
Story
Noble Roman's signed 12 franchise/license agreements between
Jan. 1 and March 12 of this year, bringing the company
to more than 1,400 locations. The company signed franchise/license
agreements for 39 new nontraditional locations other than
grocery stores in 2012, including 12 locations with Huck's,
reported Convenience Store News. Full
Story
Restaurant Roundup:
Ignite Restaurant Group opened a Joe's Seafood Shack
in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Full
Story... Stacked: Food Well Built will
open its fourth location March 20 at The Oaks Mall in Thousand
Oaks, CA. Full
Story... The Republic of Texas Brands plans
to open four new barbecue restaurants in the Dallas/Fort Worth
area. Full
Story... An
American barbecue chain
opened a location in downtown Missoula, the second site
for it in Montana. Full Story...
The Original
Brooklyn Water Bagel will open a restaurant next month
in Winter Park, FL April 10, reported Orlando Sentinel.
Full
Story
Health News
Sugar-sweetened beverages are linked to more than 180,000
obesity-related deaths worldwide each year, according
to new research presented this week at an American Heart Association
conference. Among the world's 35 largest countries, Mexico
had the highest death rates from sugary drinks, and Bangladesh
had the lowest, according to the study. The U.S. ranked third,
reported CNN. Full
Story
Washington News
7-Eleven filed two federal lawsuits claiming 7-SEVEN stores
in Bibb County, GA are infringing on and diluting the company's
trademark. The company alleges the 7-SEVEN stores chose
their logo to "trade upon the fame and goodwill"
of 7-Eleven, according to the lawsuits, filed March 11 in
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, reported
The Telegraph. Full
Story
A new law in Mississippi states cities and counties can't
ban the Big Gulp or put other local regulations on food and
drink. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant signed Senate Bill
2687 March 18, and it became law immediately. The Mississippi
law states local governments can't require restaurants to
list calorie counts on menus or ban plastic toys in kids'
meals. It was pushed by the state restaurant association and
chicken growers, among others, reported The Washington
Post. Full
Story (Free Subscription Required)
The federal government is teaming up with Virginia and
Maryland to crack down on food stamp fraud. Under the
partnership, Maryland and Virginia entered into a data-sharing
agreement with the USDA to develop improved monitoring tools
to detect fraud. The USDA states it has a great deal of experience
identifying fraud through so-called data mining, reported
The Washington Post. Full
Story (Free Subscription Required)
A group of doctors are urging the FDA to take action against
energy drinks to protect teens and children. In their
letter to the FDA, the group stated energy drink makers have
failed to prove that the ingredients used in their products
are safe. Because of this, the group wants the FDA to limit
caffeine content in the beverages and force makers to include
caffeine content on product labels, reported HealthDay.
Full
Story
Some animal-rights activists think a state senator is
laying tracks to repeal the state's foie gras ban - a
suspicion she's doing little to dispel. State Sen. Lois Wolk,
D-Davis introduced a bill that, in its current form, would
require the state Department of Food and Agriculture to retool
animal-welfare standards, reported San Francisco Chronicle.
Full
Story
Global News
French retailer Carrefour denied a report the
company may consider a possible sale of its Italian business.
The Italian daily Il Messaggero claimed local supermarket
group Conad could be considering buying Carrefour's business
in the country, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
The Wendy's Company signed an agreement with The Eljuri
Group to develop 20 Wendy's restaurants in Ecuador. As
the largest business group in Ecuador, Eljuri expects to open
its first two Wendy's locations in 2013 in Guayaquil, a coastal
city with a population of 2.3 million people. Full
Story
Sales at China's high-end restaurants slumped in
the first two months of the year, reflecting the sluggish
state of the catering industry since the start of the nationwide
crackdown on waste and extravagance in December. The Ministry
of Commerce stated the catering industry's revenue growth
declined 4.9 percentage points, to 8.4% between January and
February, the lowest level since 2003. Medium and high-end
restaurants are bearing the brunt of the slump, with their
revenue falling 3.3 percent in the first two months of this
year, reported China Daily. Full
Story
Market News
UCLA researchers genetically engineered tomatoes to produce
a peptide that mimics the actions of good cholesterol
when consumed, according to a study published in Journal
of Lipid Research. An early study found that mice that
were fed these tomatoes in freeze-dried, ground form had less
inflammation and plaque build-up in their arteries, reported
Science Daily. Full
Story
Buyers should expect light volume of Florida spring sweet
corn until much later in the deal. An early March freeze
harmed nearly half of early spring volume and is increasing
demand and prices. Growers lost up to 45% of the deal's early
production, according to the president of Florida Sweet Corn
Exchange and vice president and co-owner of R.C. Hatton Farms,
reported The Packer Online. Full
Story
Cattle ranchers in Northern California claim grasses are
slow to grow this year, leading to challenges finding
enough forage for their herds. While last year saw a dry fall
and wet spring, this year has included the opposite pattern
- a wet fall and dry spring, reported California Farm Bureau
Federation. Full
Story
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IGA
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