Retail News
Symphony Investors became Supervalu's largest shareholder
with 21.2% of total outstanding common shares as a result
of Supervalu's finalized sale of five supermarket banners
to AB Acquisition. Symphony Investors, a Cerberus Capital
Management-led investor consortium, purchased approximately
11.7 million shares of Supervalu's outstanding common stock
for $4/share in cash, and about 42.5 million shares of newly
issued shares of Supervalu common stock for the same price
as part of the $3.3 billion deal. Full
Story
Giant Eagle is expanding its low-price lock program to
a 15% cut in about 3,000 items. It is an extension of
a program that Giant Eagle began last year and renewed after
the first of the year through March. Most of the price cuts
are effective now although others will be done by April 11,
reported Pittsburgh Business Times. Full
Story
Matzo, the unleavened bread that Jews have eaten on Passover
for generations, is getting more expensive along with other
Passover foods. According to Menachem Lubinsky, a Kosher
food marketing consultant who edits Kosher Today, prices
for Passover foods are up 5% to 10% this year. Sales of Kosher
for Passover goods, which also includes non-religious goods
that are permitted on the holiday such as Coca-Cola along
with traditional fare including macaroons, were about $2.5
billion in 2012. He expects spending to be "at least that
if not more" for this year. Passover starts March 25 and ends
April 2, reported MSN Money. Full
Story
7-Eleven plans to lease 19 convenience stores in the Cleveland
area from Lehigh Gas Partners by March 31. The company
will rebrand the stores and manage operations, but Lehigh
Gas will retain ownership, reported Convenience Store News.
Full
Story
Yummly, a digital kitchen
and recipe search platform, launched Yummly API. The Yummly
API provides access to more than 1 million recipes to display
relevant results that can be tailored according to individual
ingredient, diet, allergy, nutrition, taste and technique
parameters, allowing developers to build world-class applications
that are powered by user preferences. Yummly's mission is
to create the ultimate digital kitchen platform. Headquartered
in Silicon Valley, Yummly is backed by Physic Ventures, Unilever
Corporate Ventures, First Round Capital, Harrison Metal Capital,
Intel Capital, and The Harvard Common Press. Full
Story
New Store News:
99¢ Only Stores will open a new store in Hesperia,
CA. More than half its sales come from food and beverages,
including produce, dairy, deli and frozen foods. Full
Story
Manufacturer News
Pepsi is bottling its 20-oz. soda in a new
shape for the first time in about 17 years. The
new bottle has a contoured bottom made for easier gripping,
and the wraparound label is shorter to expose more of the
beverage. The new 20-oz. bottle is part of the company's update
of marketing and packaging materials, will begin rolling out
in April and will replace all current bottles in a year or
two, according to a PepsiCo spokeswoman, reported IBNLive.
Full
Story
Made in Nature purchased a building in Boulder,
CO where it will relocate its corporate headquarters from
Wellington, FL. The company's products are 100% certified
organic and are available nationwide at Whole Foods Market,
Sprouts, Costco and natural, specialty and regional grocers.
Made In Nature also offers organic fresh produce and organic
artisan frozen pizzas, reported Boulder County Business
Report. Full
Story
Nantucket Butter Company signed a co-packer
agreement with food manufacturer Blount Fine Foods. Blount
co-packs for Panera Bread and Legal Sea Foods among others
from its facility in Fall River, MA. Full
Story
New Product News:
Dr Pepper Snapple Group introduced Hawaiian Punch Aloha
Morning in three citrus flavors, Orange Citrus, Mixed Berry
Citrus, and Strawberry Citrus. Full
Story... Polska Foods'
Savory Beef & Pork Pierogi is ready for sale at Whole Foods
Markets and select grocery stores on the West Coast. Full
Story... Firehouse Subs will open its first restaurant
in Idaho this spring, with plans to open a total of 12 in
the southern region of the state over the course of 12 years,
reported Jacksonville Business Journal. Full
Story
Executives
on The Move: The heads of H.J. Heinz businesses
on either side of the Atlantic will swap jobs, with David
Moran moving to the U.S. to head Heinz's North American business
while David Woodward will lead Europe, reported The Wall
Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Foodservice
News
There were 96 announced chain restaurant mergers and acquisitions
in 2012, including IPOs, according to the J.H. Chapman
Group 2012 Chain Restaurant Merger & Acquisition Census.
Total M&A activity declined from the 100 reported in 2011
as "Chain restaurant M&A transactions have leveled off
over the past three years as IPO and other growth financing
methods increase in frequency," stated Chapman Principal David
L. Epstein. Equity funds accounted for 27% of all announced
transactions, while franchisee acquisitions of franchised
units comprised 36% of the total. Full
Story
The 500 largest U.S. restaurant chains registered a 4.9%
annual sales increase in 2012, a marked improvement over
3.5% the prior year. According to data released by Technomic
in its annual reporting on the top U.S. restaurant organizations,
the foodservice consultancy found that U.S. systemwide sales
for the Top 500 chains grew to an estimated $254 billion in
2012, up more than $12 billion over 2011.
Full
Story
Pizza is America's No. 1 one late night snack choice,
according to Seamless.com the online and mobile food ordering
service. And the top five markets for late night eating are
Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Los
Angeles. Full
Story
Restaurant Roundup:
SkinnyPizza signed an exclusive deal with Mogull Realty
for multiunit expansion into Manhattan.
Full Story... Pollo
Tropical opened its 93rd company-owned location in Fort
Myers, FL. Full Story
Health News
Those convenient, prepackaged meals and snacks for toddlers
may contain worrisome levels of salt, U.S. researchers report.
More than three quarters of 90 toddler meals evaluated by
the CDC were high in sodium, according to a new study. Ready-to-eat
foods for babies were less alarming, found the experts, who
reported on the sodium content of 1,115 products for babies
and toddlers using per-serving data from major and private-label
brands. Eating too much sodium, the main component of salt,
can lead to high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for
heart disease and stroke, reported HealthDay. Full
Story
Energy
drinks boost blood pressure and may make the heart more susceptible
to electrical short circuits, new research suggests.
But it's not clear how much of this effect on blood pressure
has to do with caffeine, which also is found in coffee, or
whether the effect significantly raises the risk of heart
problems. At issue are the caffeine-laden drinks that have
become popular among people looking to stay alert, stay awake
or get a jolt. Sixteen-ounce cans of drinks like Monster Energy
Assault and Rockstar pack in about 160 milligrams of caffeine,
compared with roughly 100 milligrams in a 6-oz. cup of coffee.
Energy drinks also come with other ingredients like sugar
and herbs, and medical experts have warned that they can spell
trouble, reported HealthDay. Full
Story
Washington News
The House passed the Senate's changes to the fiscal 2013
funding bill, clearing the measure for President Obama
to sign it into law, according to Bloomberg BNA.
The House voted 318 to 109 to approve the Senate proposal,
which includes full fiscal 2013 appropriations bills for USDA
and other federal agencies. Full
Story According to Food Institute counsel OFW Law, the
measure offsets the impact of sequestration to prevent the
furlough of meat inspectors, increases funds to the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
to offset sequestration and provides an additional $12.8 million
not included in the House bill for the implementation of the
Food Safety Modernization Act.
A lawsuit filed against the EPA claims regulators are
not protecting honey bees and toxic insecticides should
be immediately suspended. With bee numbers and vitality on
the decline over the past several years, studies have linked
the prevalence of some new insecticides with the conditions,
reported Reuters. Full
Story
APHIS submitted an information collection requirement
to OMB for VS form 17-129, Application for Import or
in Transit Permit, concerning the origin and history of
the items destined for importation into the U.S. APHIS will
collect information to ensure that swine, pork and pork products,
and other material pose a negligible risk of introducing exotic
swine diseases into the U.S. Comments on the collection of
information will be accepted until April 22. Full
Notice
USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) published its
annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines
for use in determining eligibility for free and reduced price
meals and free milk in schools. The guidelines cover the period
of July 1 through June 30, 2014, and are used by schools,
institutions, and facilities participating in the National
School Lunch Program (and Commodity School Program), School
Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program for Children, Child
and Adult Care Food Program and Summer Food Service Program.
Full
Notice
FNS also published the adjusted income eligibility guidelines
to be used by state agencies in determining the income
eligibility of persons applying to participate in the Special
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children
Program. Full
Notice
Global News
Indonesia aims to link traders' imports of soybeans to
the volume of the oilseed they buy at home, an industry
ministry official stated, as the country moves to protect
domestic farmers and promote their interests. Indonesia is
struggling to meet ambitious self-sufficiency targets in many
staple foods, while trying to balance the interests of farmers
and consumers, in a country where about half the population
lives on less than $2 per day, reported Reuters. Full
Story
IKEA's trademark meatballs are returning to its European
menu after last month's horsemeat scare, with new supply
chain controls "from farm to fork." Meatballs from Familjen
Dafgard, which supplies nearly all IKEA stores in Europe,
would be back in all stores by mid-April. The company made
Familjen Dafgard drop eight of its 15 suppliers, including
the importer of the meat that contained horse, and would cut
the number of purchasing countries, reported Reuters.
Full
Story
In 2012, U.S. food and beverage exports to the Philippines
surpassed 2011 sales by 13% to a record $859 million.
In the past 10 years, U.S. food and beverage sales more than
quintupled. The top U.S. exports were dairy products, meat
& poultry, snack foods, and processed fruits & vegetables.
USDA
Report
Market News
The U.S. and Mexico officially implemented the pricing
agreement on imported tomatoes from Mexico. The principles
to the pact were agreed to in early February and set higher
minimum prices prices for most tomatoes. The deal is now in
effect after being submitted for public comment, reported
Fresh Plaza. Full
Story
The Hershey Company is expanding its initiatives with
its family cocoa farmers and communities to modernize farming
practices and increase incomes, as well as attract new
farmers and improve growing conditions. The initiatives put
out by Hershey have helped the farmers develop more productive
agricultural practices, build educational and community resources
and improve labor practices for the past half-century. The
expansion of the initiatives will help global cocoa communities
grow sustainable cocoa for the future. Full Story
York County, PA potato farmers are working to create new
varieties of the crop to help it resist diseases and solve
storage issues. One variety, the Dark Red Norland potato,
works well in various soil conditions, matures early and stores
well. Trials are also under way to develop a blue potato that
is high in antioxidants, and another variety that has an orange
flesh and is high in vitamins, reported YDR.com. Full
Story
USDA is seeking nominations for the Mushroom Council.
The Mushroom Council includes eight U.S. producers and an
importer. The U.S. members represent three production territories:
Region 1, which covers the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico
and all states except Pennsylvania, which is Region 2 and
California, which is Region 3. Full
Story
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