Retail News
About $6.5 billion of Aldi's revenue stems from sales
in the U.S., according to the president of consulting
firm Customer Growth Partners. In addition, "they're
not only doing the small format more rapidly, but they're
getting into the urban areas more rapidly than either Wal-Mart
Express or the city Targets," noted the executive. About
95% of its goods bear a private label, reported The New
York Times on the Web. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Wal-Mart shoppers are more likely to be young, multicultural
and not college-educated, according to the company's EVP
of food merchandising, who spoke at Western Michigan University's
Food Marketing Conference. Their values are centered on "family,
finances and community," the EVP noted, reported MLive.com.
Full
Story (Free Registration Required) New!
The Food Institute will present Shopper
Insights: Actionable or Academic?, a webinar scheduled
for 12 p.m. (EST) Apr. 6. The webinar will feature Nadine
Hernandez, Director, Shopper Insights Worldwide Industry Marketing,
DemandTec and Roy White, Business Development Executive, RetailWire,
and provide detailed results of an in-depth survey addressing
Shopper Insights, including, but not limited to the role of
Shopper Insights in collaboration and the relative value of
Shopper Insights to trade participants.
Retail News: An Associated
Supermarkets-affiliated investor group purchased a 16,000-sq.
ft. building in Harlem, NY for $6.5 million, reported Crain's
New York Business. Full
Story (Free Registration Required) ... Giant Food
and Stop & Shop launched a mobile app for iPhone
and Android devices that syncs with customer loyalty cards.
Full
Story
New Store News: Target Corp. is in talks with
the Chicago Housing Authority to build a store at the site
of a former housing project, reported Chicago Breaking
Business. Full
Story ... Publix Super Markets will open a location
in Lake Worth, FL on Apr. 28, reported Palm Beach Post.
Full
Story (Free Registration Required) ... New Seasons
Market will open a 40,000-sq. ft. store in Vancouver, WA
at the end of the year, reported OregonLive.com. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Manufacturer News
An ingredient used to make bricks shows promise
as a transparent coating for improving the strength and
performance of plastic food packaging, according to a presentation
at the 241st National Meeting and Exposition of the American
Chemical Society. Called "nano-bricks," the film
coating could help foods and beverages stay fresh and flavorful
longer and may replace some foil packaging currently in use.
Full
Story
Teens and moms are key targets for Coca-Cola's
Fanta brand, and the beverage is particularly popular
with multicultural teens. This segment is drinking Fanta two
times more than the average teen and, in the U.S., two-thirds
of the brand's volume is attributed to multicultural teens,
reported Advertising Age. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
New Product News: Hansen's Beverage
Company and Truvia launched Hansen's Natural Fruit
Stix and Tea Stix in five flavors. Full
Story ... Mars Chocolate will debut revamped Kudos
granola bars this May. Kudos will don flavors from M&M's,
Dove and Snickers in a 10-count pack and a 30-count variety
pack, reported Retailing Today. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA, Inc. acquired
certain assets of the Kauai Coffee Company, Inc., a former
subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. While the company
will oversee operations of Kauai Coffee's 3,000 acre plantation
and processing facilities and market the Kauai Coffee brand
globally, parent Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group will distribute
the coffee internationally through its subsidiary system.
Full
Story Register Now!
The Food Institute will present Mergers
and Acquisitions in the Food Industry: "The Art of the Deal".
The webinar, to be held 12 p.m. (EST) Apr. 12, will feature
Karen G. Bokat, Consulting Council, Wiley Rein LLP and Mary
L. Burke, Principal, Lakeshore Food Advisors, LLC. Those who
sign up for the webinar will have the opportunity to purchase
an electronic copy of the just-published Food Business
Mergers and Acquisitions book from the Food Institute
for only $199 (regularly $295).
Lance Sandwich Crackers joined the National
Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI), agreeing to lower the
amount of sodium in 13 of its sandwich cracker varieties to
meet the NSRI guidelines by 2012. Full
Story
City Brewing Co. is buying a Hardy Bottling
Co. plant from the Memphis-Shelby County Industrial Development
Board for $30 million, reported TwinCities.com. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Foodservice News
Performance Food Group is expanding its 80,000-sq. ft.
distribution facility in Springfield, MO. The expansion
will add 35,000-sq. ft. to the current facility, which serves
over 1,500 customers throughout a nine state area which includes
pizzerias, Italian and Mexican restaurants and regional chains.
Full
Story
Private investment firm Argonne Capital Group, LLC's affiliate,
Peak Restaurant Group, LLC, acquired the restaurant assets,
operations and franchise rights to 40 IHOP restaurants located
in seven states. Also, an affiliate formed by Argonne, Neighborhood
Restaurant Partners, acquired eight Applebee's Neighborhood
Grill & Bar restaurants located in San Antonio, TX previously
owned by an Applebee's franchisee.
Full Story NEW!
Place your order for The Food Institute's new Food Business
Mergers & Acquisitions 2010 book to receive a comprehensive
look at the most significant deals of the previous year and
view into what 2011 may bring. To order and for more information,
click
here.
Restaurant Roundup: More than half of Olive Garden's
700-plus restaurants across the U.S. will undergo either an
interior or exterior design refresh inspired by farmhouses
in Tuscany, Italy. Full
Story ... Planet Smoothie launched Planet Light,
over 20 smoothies under 300 calories and sweetened with LeanLeaf,
Planet Smoothie's proprietary sweetener made from a blend
of Agave and Stevia plants. Full
Story
Washington News
The Supreme Court reportedly appears ready to block a
discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart on behalf of up
to 1.6 million women, with several justices suggesting that
they were troubled by the case and lower court decisions against
Wal-Mart, reported The Associated Press. Full
Story, Walmart
Statement
The Department of Justice reached a settlement with Dean
Foods Company that requires Dean to divest a significant
milk processing plant in Waukesha, WI and related assets that
it acquired from the Foremost Farms USA Cooperative, including
the Golden Guernsey brand name. The proposed settlement also
requires that Dean notify the department before it makes any
future acquisition of milk processing plants for which the
purchase price is more than $3 million. Full
Story
A federal judge in Miami granted class certification
in a false advertising class action lawsuit involving YoPlus
digestive health yogurt manufactured and sold by General
Mills and Yoplait USA. The class action complaint alleges
that General Mills has no scientific support for the YoPlus
digestive health advertising claims. Full
Story
A consortium of U.S. organic farmers and seed dealers
filed suit against Monsanto, challenging the company's
patents on its genetically modified seeds. The group is seeking
a ruling that would prohibit Monsanto from suing the farmers
or dealers if their organic seed becomes contaminated with
Monsanto's patented biotech seed germplasm, reported Reuters.
Full
Story
Tennessee House Democrats are proposing to cut the state's
5.5% tax on groceries by putting a higher tax on sugary
soft drinks. Under the proposal, the state would boost the
tax on soft drinks by one cent per fluid ounce, reported Bloomberg
Businessweek. Full
Story
California is proposing the creation of a California Apiary
Research Commission that would tax any beekeeper with
more than 50 colonies of bees at a rate of up to $1 per hive.
Beekeepers must approve the proposal in a summer referendum
for it to take effect, reported The Associated Press.
Full
Story
Completely Fresh Foods Inc. issued a voluntary recall
of approximately 131,000-lbs. of pizza products because
the products contain an allergen, wheat. Full
Story
Global News
Mexico's sugar exports are expected to reach a record
high this season after a freeze in the U.S. and Mexico's
increasing consumption of high fructose corn syrup. The country
plans to export 1.3 million metric tons of sugar during the
current crop cycle, up 73% from 2009 to 2010, reported NASDAQ.
Full
Story
A Toronto council committee rejected a proposal to phase
out soda and other sugary drinks on city property, voting
down a recommendation to stock vending machines solely with
healthful beverages within three years. The government management
committee voted instead to maintain current levels of soda
and energy drinks in vending machines at about 50%, reported
The Globe and Mail. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Russian meat producer Cherkizovo reached an agreement
to acquire a 100% stake in Russia-based meat producer
ZAO Mosselprom. The transaction is subject to mandatory inspection
and approval by the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia.
Full
Story
Japan is testing soil samples from farmland in prefectures
hit by radiation leakage to assess whether crops can be planted
there. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
plans to complete testing of 150 samples by mid-April, when
rice growers in the region are scheduled to start sowing,
reported Bloomberg.com. Full
Story
DuPont's wholly owned subsidiary DuPont Denmark Holding
ApS is extending the tender offer period relating to its
acquisition of Danisco A/S shares by four weeks. The extension
provides additional time to secure the necessary approvals
from the competition authorities in the EU and China. Full
Story
The board of Parmalat will meet on Apr. 1 to decide
whether to give Italy investors more time to reach a deal
with France's Lactalis, reported Reuters. Ferrero remains
open to an all-Italian deal for Parmalat, denying a report
that it walked away from talks. Full
Story
Grocery sales in Britain rose 2% year-on-year in the
four weeks to Mar. 19, almost half the rate of the previous
four weeks, according to Nielsen, reported Reuters.
Full
Story
Starting in April, dairy retailers in China will be required
to apply for one of two types of licenses, one allowing
them to sell dairy products that contain baby formula and
the other to sell formula-free dairy products, reported China
Daily. Full
Story
Market News
Commercial processors utilized 160 million-lbs. of shelled
edible grade peanuts during February. Utilization by type
was 95.7 million-lbs. for all peanut butter products, 29.7
million-lbs. for peanut candy, and 33.7 million-lbs. for peanut
snacks. Crushing for oil and cake and meal totaled 34.7 million-lbs.
during the month. Peanut
Stock and Processing Report
USDA will release its Agricultural Prices report on
Mar. 30 at 3:00 p.m. EST. View
Details
A late March hailstorm should not cripple this season's
Vidalia onion harvest, grower-shippers report in early
estimates. The hail affected 2,000 acres, with 650 to 1,000
acres sustaining moderate to severe damage, stated the manager
of the Vidalia Onion Business Council, reported The Packer
Online. Full
Story
Seedway is working to develop seed varieties that
capitalize on the various climates in the East Coast. The
vegetable seed distributor plans five seed trials during the
upcoming growing season, reported The Packer Online.
Full
Story
The Florida Department of Agriculture expanded quarantine
and pesticide zones after finding a fifth Mediterranean
fruit fly in Pompano Beach. The quarantine now covers 71 square
miles in northeast Broward County, reported Miami Herald.
Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
APHIS is adding new approved phytosanitary treatment schedules
to the Plant Protection and Quarantine Treatment Manual for
certain species of citrus fruit imported from Australia into
the U.S. Full
Notice
EPA is taking public comments on a request from the Migrant
Clinicians Network and other farm worker interest groups
to require all pesticide labels be available in both English
and Spanish. The agency will consider public comments submitted
until June 28 before responding to the petitioners. Full
Notice
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