Retail News
Publix Super Markets acquired the 44,696-sq.-ft. shopping
center that houses its store in Charlotte Harbor, FL for
$4.7 million, part of a growing trend for the chain. Such
transactions are becoming a more common occurrence for a chain
that once leased almost all its stores. Last year, Publix
generated retail sales of $27.5 billion, revenue that has,
in turn, allowed the company to go into acquisition mode.
Many of the deals Publix has done for its stores have been
executed in Southwest Florida, reported Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Full
Story
Amazon is expanding its online
wine delivery service to include Texas. Amazon Wine allows
customers to make purchases directly from more than 350 wineries
and 2,200 participating labels and will now include Texas
wineries as well, reported San Antonio Business Journal.
Full
Story
Sales for the convenience store industry were a record
$700.3 billion for 2012, according to NACS' State of the
Industry Summit. The industry also saw in-store sales increase
2.2%, to reach $199.3 billion in the past year, another record.
The overall sales reflect real growth per store, with sales
outpacing the 0.7% increase in the number of U.S. c-stores
in 2012, reported Convenience Store News. Full
Story
Belle Foods began a rebranding campaign to convert all
of its Bruno's Supermarket locations to the Belle Foods
banner. Belle Foods purchased Birmingham, AL-based Southern
Family Markets in February, acquiring 57 stores in Alabama,
Georgia, Mississippi and Florida that operate under banners
including Bruno's, Food World and Piggly Wiggly. Over the
next 18 months, Belle Foods plans to convert all of its stores,
and new features include a fresh salad bar and panini grill,
along with a wider variety of marinated and seasoned meats
and Alabama seafood, reported Alabama Live. Full
Story
Meanwhile, Belle Foods also plans to hire 300 part-time
employees as it reduces its full-time workforce. The Birmingham-based
grocer is the owner of former Bruno's and Food World stores
across the Southeast, reported Alabama Live. Full
Story
MoneyGram renewed its exclusive relationship with Circle
K and expanded its product offerings to include money
transfer and bill payment services in Circle K's 2,900 company-owned
stores. Full
Story
Manufacturer News
Triscuit is putting major marketing support behind its
new Brown Rice Triscuit lineup. The line extension marks
a major shift for a 110-year-old brand known for its simplistic
wheat-packed crackers. By adding rice, potatoes and spices
like basil and sea salt, Triscuit is seeking to appeal to
consumers who are eating more snacks and less traditional
meals. Triscuit is the sixth-largest brand in the U.S. cracker
and biscuit category, with 7.2% share, according to Euromonitor
International, reported Advertising Age. Full
Story (Paid Subscription Required)
Foodservice
News
McDonald's is putting pressure on franchisees to improve
staffing and service as complaints mount about rude employees.
A webcast McDonald's executives held with franchise owners
last month identified the top customer complaint as "rude
or unprofessional employees," with one in five customer complaints
related to friendliness issues, according to a slide from
the presentation reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
QSR Magazine's annual Drive-Thru Study found other
restaurants have consistently outperformed McDonald's in comparisons
of customer service at fast-food chains. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Taco Bell is planning to have 20% of its combo meals meet
one-third of the federal government's recommended dietary
guidelines by 2020. The move comes at a time legislators,
activists and parents are pushing food chains to offer more
better-for-you choices. At the same time more Millennials
are choosing better-for-you options sold at places like Chipotle
and Panera Bread. Taco Bell hopes to test a range of new,
better-for-you products later this year and begin launching
some nationally in 2014, reported USA Today. Full
Story
Ruby Tuesday reported same-restaurant sales decreased
2.8% at company-owned restaurants in the company's 2013
fiscal third quarter, and decreased 1.7% at domestic Ruby
Tuesday franchise restaurants during the same period. Ruby
Tuesday closed sale leaseback transactions on four restaurants
in the quarter, resulting in $8.8 million of gross proceeds,
and closed sale leaseback transactions on an additional two
restaurants subsequent to the end of the quarter, resulting
in $5.2 million of gross proceeds. Full
Story
Restaurant Roundup: Einstein Bros. Bagels and Noah's
New York Bagels added Bagel Clusters snacks for guests
to consume on the go and Frozen Strawberry Lemonade, Mixed
Berry Smoothie and Vanilla Hazelnut Iced Coffee beverages.
Full
Story... Texas
de Brazil will open a location on Third Avenue and 60th
Street in New York City later this year. Full
Story
Executives on the Move: Burger King
Worldwide made changes to its senior management team,
with CEO Bernardo Hees to continue to serve as CEO until the
completion of the H.J. Heinz acquisition, at which point Mr.
Hees will become CEO of H.J. Heinz. Burger King Worldwide
CFO Daniel Schwartz was appointed COO, and will become CEO
July 1. Joshua Kobza will succeed Mr. Schwartz as CFO. Full
Story, Heinz
Press Release ... The California Grocers Association
named Keri Askew Bailey SVP, Government Relations and Public
Policy. The responsibilities of the newly created position
including creating and managing an aggressive public policy
program, industry issues management, aggressive grass-roots
member outreach and a strong political program. Full
Story
Health News
Regularly eating cereal for breakfast is tied to healthy
weight for kids, according to a new study published in
the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Kids who ate more cereal got more vitamin D, B-3, B-12, riboflavin,
calcium, iron, zinc and potassium in their diets than kids
who ate less cereal or none at all. They also got slightly
more calories, fat, fiber and sugar, reported Reuters.
Full
Story
Washington News
FDA is requesting a budget of $4.7 billion as part of
the President's fiscal year 2014 budget, with industry
user fees to fund 94% of the proposed budget increase. An
additional $295.8 million, of which $252.4 million would be
collected in user fees, would bolster the FDA's food safety
efforts. An additional $10 million above the FY 2012 level
would support risk detection of products and ingredients manufactured
in China. Full
Story
The National Retail Federation sent a letter to members
of the House of Representatives expressing its support for
H.R. 1120, the Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management
Relations Act. H.R. 1120 would prohibit the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) from further decision-making responsibilities
and prevent the NLRB from enforcing any board decision or
action made after President Obama's January 2012 recess appointments.
The bill is expected to come to the House floor for a full
vote later this week. Full
Story
Formosa Food Company is recalling approximately 1,133-lbs.
of a pork jerky product because of misbranding and undeclared
wheat. Full
Story
Manda Packing Company is recalling approximately 20,166-lbs.
of cooked roast beef deli meat due to possible contamination
with Listeria monocytogenes. Full
Story
Global News
Global food prices rose 1% in March, according to the
UN's food agency, pointing to a surge in dairy costs,
while cereals prices were little changed and seen facing
downward pressure in coming months. Food prices spiked over
the summer of 2012 fueled by a historic drought in the U.S.
and dry weather in other major producers. Prices eased slightly
towards the end of last year but have been nudging higher
again for the past two months, reported Reuters. Full
Story
Marks & Spencer posted a seventh-straight quarterly fall
in underlying sales of clothing and homewares, having
to rely on a strong performance from its food business to
deliver overall growth. Marc Bolland, chief executive of the
UK-based retailer that has recently been the subject of takeover
speculation, is under pressure from shareholders to revive
its clothing operations. He has stated that a new general
merchandise management team led by John Dixon, the former
boss of M&S's food business, and Belinda Earl, the former
chief of Debenhams and Jaeger, will not make a major impact
on sales until autumn/winter collections hit the shops in
July, reported Reuters. Full
Story
KFC parent Yum Brands warned that a new bird flu outbreak
in China badly hit restaurant sales there this month,
even as the company also reported a sharper-than-expected
slide in March sales in the country caused by the lingering
impact of a separate food safety scare. Yum reaps more than
half its overall sales in China, where most of its nearly
5,300 restaurants are KFCs, reported Reuters. Full
Story
The development of super rice strains in China will keep
the country self-sufficient, with an expected yield of
14.9 metric tons per hectare. A scientific research project
was launched April 9 in Hainan province to develop new super
rice strains by the Minister of Agriculture, reported China
Daily. Full
Story
Cold Stone Creamery is expanding to the Philippines and
Bangladesh. Kahala, the parent company of Cold Stone Creamery,
has signed 10-year master franchise agreements with Olive
Tree Foods Ltd. in Bangladesh, and with Arizona Ice Cream
Corporation in the Philippines. Full
Story
Market News
The ongoing problems of pre-harvest fruit drop and small
size sent the 2012-13 Florida orange crop down another 1 million
boxes, and few industry observers think that's the last
of the reductions until the season wraps up in June. USDA's
monthly citrus crop update reported this season's projected
orange crop at 138 million, down 1 million from the March
report. The agency kept the projected Florida grapefruit crop
at 17 million boxes, but it reduced the 2012-13 tangerine
forecast by 200,000 boxes to 3.5 million boxes. USDA has reduced
its orange crop forecast every month since the initial October
estimate of 154 million boxes. The drop problem has sent the
farm price for Valencias up more than 16% in three months
to $1.80 to $1.85 per pound solids, reported The Lakeland
Ledger. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
The California navel orange deal could end production
ahead of past expectations as it enters its final months
with volumes tapering off. "Traditionally we have navels,
at least in minimal supplies, until the Fourth of July,"
the president of California Citrus Mutual told The Packer.
"This year it appears we're going to wind up a bit early.
The crop is picking as much as 5% to 10% lighter than we anticipated."
Full
Story
A strain of citrus greening, known as Lam, was found in
the U.S. for the first time. The disease was found in
a citrus psyllid near Mission, TX, stated the president of
Texas Citrus Mutual to The Packer. Before the Texas
finding, Lam had only been confirmed in Brazil, reported The
Packer Online. Full
Story
Despite the increase of acreage in North Carolina, grain
sorghum seeds may be short in supply this year. Acreage
jumped from 10,000 acres to 70,000 acres in the past year,
and while some claim 100,000 acres could be possible in 2013,
it will depend on how well dealers and growers can coordinate
seed buying, reported Southeast Farm Press. Full
Story
The impending removal of the fumigant methyl bromide
is becoming a dilemma for California strawberry growers.
The removal of the fumigant could affect strawberry production,
as it is a particularly critical element in the state's $2.4
billion industry. Methyl bromide was technically phased out
by 2005 and its limited use is allowed under "critical-use
exemptions" at least through 2014, reported Western Farm
Press. Full
Story
Rice is no longer the largest food product in China as
corn production surpassed the staple crop for the first time,
according to the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences. Domestic
corn production grew 8% to 208 million metric tons, while
rice output edged up just 1.6% to 204 million tons. Another
major grain, wheat, grew 2.7%, reported China Daily.
Full
Story
AMS is adopting as final an interim rule that decreased
the assessment rate established for the Washington Apricot
Marketing Committee for the 2012-13 and subsequent fiscal
periods to $0.50 per ton of Washington apricots handled, from
$1.50/ton. The rule decreased the assessment rate to reflect
a reduction in the manager's salary and the Committee's operating
expenditures. Full
Notice
AMS is adopting as final an interim rule that decreased
the assessment rate established for the Washington
Cherry Marketing Committee for the 2012-2013 and subsequent
fiscal periods to $0.18 per ton of sweet cherries handled,
from $0.40/ton. The interim rule was necessary to allow the
Committee to reduce its monetary reserve. Full
Notice
AMS is adopting as final an interim rule that decreased
the assessment rate established for the Processed Pear Committee
for the 2012-2013 and subsequent fiscal periods to $7 per
ton of summer/fall processed pears, from $7.73/ton. The Committee
recommended the assessment rate decrease because the summer/fall
processed pear promotion budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal period
was reduced. Full
Notice
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