IGA Marketing Perspective

Kraft Foods Joins IGA's Wounded Warrior Project Cause Marketing Initiative!

A message to IGA Retailers from...
Heidi Huff
Manager of Marketing & Retail Programs
IGA USA

Summer is almost here, meaning it's the perfect time to promote the specially-marked cases of IGA Brand water with 10 cents from each sale going to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). After all, what better summertime promotion could there be than one that uses a warm weather essential like bottled water to raise money for an important cause like wounded soldiers? Well, how about one that combines IGA Brand water with a second summertime classic—Kraft Foods powdered beverages like Kool-Aid, Crystal Light, Country Time Lemonade and Tang? That's right, IGA Red Oval partner Kraft Foods is bringing its family favorite beverages to our WWP national cause marketing event, and the more Kraft beverage display shippers you place in your store, the more money we can raise for our country's wounded soldiers!

Here's how it works:

Kraft is making eight different summertime powdered beverage display shippers available to IGA Retailers specifically so they can be promoted with IGA WWP water pallets. The goal is to place a minimum of two displays per store during the event's three month timeframe from June to August. The more displays placed in IGA stores, the more money Kraft will donate to Wounded Warrior Project in the name of IGA.

Performance Brackets

SILVER Performance: 1200 shippers placed = $20,000
GOLD Performance: 1800 shippers placed = $30,000
PLATINUM Performance: 2400 shippers placed = $50, 000

Log on to the Alliance site for more information about adding the Kraft Foods powdered beverage display shippers to your WWP promotion, or contact your Licensed Distribution Center to order. Every little bit helps, and thanks to Kraft Foods, we now have a very real chance of not only meeting but exceeding our goal of raising $100,000 for our nation's wounded warriors!

Thank you,

Heidi Huff
hhuff@igainc.com

Retail News

The nation's food & beverage stores and eating & drinking places posted the largest sales increases since February 2008 in April, rising 8.0% and 6.3%, respectively, from year-earlier levels. Wholesale food prices, meanwhile, declined marginally from March during the month but were still 5.1% more than a year earlier, according to exclusive Food Institute analysis of just-released government data. Full Story (FI Membership Required)

Target began adding fresh food offerings to its Buffalo, NY-area stores. Two stores were already revamped, with five more to come in the next few months, reported Business First of Buffalo. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Sheetz Inc. is debuting its MySheetz loyalty card in Pennsylvania after tests in its Ohio and North Carolina convenience stores, reported The Patriot-News. Between 40% and 80% of customers in the test market signed up for cards. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Publix is changing its rules for redeeming coupons. As of May 23, Publix stores will no longer accept coupons from drug stores such as CVS and Walgreens for anything other than prescriptions. Competitors' coupons can be used only for identical products, not on purchases of store brands or foods such as meat from the butcher's department. Each store will post its own list of which competitors' coupons it will accept, and Publix will reserve the right to limit quantities of things purchased with coupons, reported Orlando Sentinel. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Manufacturer News

Amy's Kitchen will purchase a former Sara Lee building in Greenville County, SC. The facility will receive a $63 million investment and will be operational by January. Full Story

Jamba Juice will have commercialized all nine of its licensed product lines with the distribution of Jamba-O.N.E. coconut water fruit juices on May 24. Collectively Jamba achieved over 20,000 points of retail distribution and placed over 30 individual products on shelves in retail outlets across all 50 states. The company will seek opportunities to extend the Jamba brand and further commercialize existing products at retail outlets. Full Story

Kraft Foods expanded its sustainability goals to include measuring transportation and agricultural commodities. All of the company's European coffee brands committed to sustainably source 100% of their coffee by 2015. Full Story

Hershey Co. paid $5.8 million to buy a 49% stake in Tri-Us Inc., which does business as Mix1 Beverage Co. and makes protein shakes, according to a SEC filing, reported Denver Business Journal. Full Story (Free Registration Required), SEC Filing

New Product News: Mars Chocolate North America launched updated 3 Musketeers Bars with a richer chocolate taste. Full Story ... Superior Farms added three products to its Mediterranean Grill line, including fully cooked gyro meat slices. Full Story ... Balance Bar introduced Cafe, a line of bars in two flavors. Full Story ... The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and PR Nutrition, Inc. formed a multi-year licensing agreement in which PR Bar will consult with USOC sports dietitians to create, develop and sell a line of Team USA performance nutrition bars. The agreement runs through June 2017. Full Story

Wolfgang Puck Iced Coffee will roll into The Fresh Market stores this month and Kroger stores in June. Also, the beverage will be made available at Smith's Food, King Soopers, City Markets, Fry's, Dillons and Rice Epicurean Markets in June. Full Story

Bhakti Chai is pushing toward national distribution. Its products are carried in Whole Foods stores in Boulder and were picked up by United Natural Foods. The company inked a deal to produce ice cream flavored with Bhakti Chai with a Colorado manufacturer, and is preparing to roll out a ready-to-drink version of the product, reported Reuters. Full Story

Skinny Nutritional Corp.'s Skinny Water will be available at all 190 Tedeschi Food Shops store locations. Full Story

Anheuser-Busch InBev named former Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. executive Paul Chibe to lead its domestic marketing division. Mr. Chibe, former VP and general manager of Wrigley's Chicago-based U.S. gum and mints unit, will join Anheuser-Busch on June 1, reported Crain's Chicago Business. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Foodservice News

Restaurant Roundup: Bruegger's is offering the Skinny Bagel, with 100 fewer calories. Full Story ... BJ's Restaurants, Inc. introduced "Enlightened Entrees" with under 575 calories. Full Story

Executives on the Move: Brinker International Inc. named David Parsley SVP of supply chain management. Full Story ... Sara Lee Corp. hired Robin Jansen as VP, investor relations. Full Story

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. formed a five-year partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, which makes Coca-Cola the "Official Beverage Partner" of its 10 Great Wolf Lodge indoor waterpark resorts throughout the U.S. The agreement outlines a combination of product offerings, promotions and sponsorship opportunities. Full Story

Washington News

FDA requested a permanent injunction against American Mercantile Corp., Ingredients Corp. of America and the owner and president of the companies. FDA claims that the companies violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by preparing, packing and holding food under insanitary conditions. Full Story

The Department of Commerce is revoking, in part, the countervailing duty on certain gluten-free pasta from Italy. The Department confirmed that petitioners have no interest in countervailing duty relief from imports of gluten-free pasta. Full Notice

Global News

Kraft Foods Inc. began another round of price increases for its coffee brands in Europe, reported Bloomberg.com. The company expects single-serve coffee to make up as much as 80% of its coffee sales in Europe in 10 to 15 years. Full Story

UK supplier of ink and barcode equipment Domino Printing Sciences Plc sees its joint venture for tracking eggs in the U.S. expanding in other countries. Domino is working on new technology, including inks which change color as a food ages, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

Royal DSM signed an agreement with P&R Group (Italy) to acquire Vitatene S.A.U., a producer of natural carotenoids. Full Story

Finland-based materials company Ahlstrom will raise prices as much as 10% on its beverage products due to rising raw material and energy costs. Full Story

Fonterra Co-operative Group is in the final stages of plans to purchase land to develop a pilot dairy farm in Brazil. The company is also currently developing a second dairy farm in China and is conducting a feasibility study into a joint venture dairy farm in India. Full Story

Columbia-based food producer Grupo Nutresa SA plans to sell new shares as soon as June to fund acquisitions in the U.S. or Latin America. The issuance is expected to raise as much as $300 million. The company, which purchased a 73% stake inDominican Republic-based ice cream maker Helados Bon SA for $38.7 million in February, made 15 acquisitions in the last decade, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets lost or wasted, according to an FAO-commissioned study. The report, Global Food Losses and Food Waste, also found that industrialized and developing countries dissipate roughly the same quantities of food, 670 and 630 million metric tons respectively. Full Story

Authorities are probing four people in a market-rigging and insider-trading inquiry into Lactalis's bid for Parmalat SpA. Tax police raided the Italian offices of banks, public relations firms and investment funds as part of the inquiry, according to a search warrant, reported Reuters. Full Story

Market News

U.S. farm exports reached an all-time high of $75 billion during the first half of fiscal year 2011, noted USDA. Exports for fiscal 2011 are 27% higher than the same period last year. This puts the U.S. on track to reach the current USDA export forecast of $135.5 billion by the end of the year. China was the top export market with $15.1 billion in farm exports, accounting for nearly 20% of all U.S. agricultural exports. Full Story

Testa Produce, Inc. opened a 91,000-sq. ft., $20 million distribution center in Chicago. The facility, which is aiming for LEED Platinum certification, incorporates a 750kW wind turbine and 180 solar panels. Full Story

Asparagus markets will likely stay strong until June, when new-crop volumes from central Mexico begin shipping. The spring asparagus deal in Washington is down 50% from last year, and last year was down 50% from the year before, according to the manager of Rasmussen Marketing Inc. Meanwhile, between six and seven million-lbs. of fresh asparagus will likely ship from Michigan this season, 20% more than last season, reported The Packer Online. Full Story

Global sugar output may exceed demand for a second year after farmers boosted planting, according to Standard Chartered Bank. Cane output in Thailand may climb to a record 94 million metric tons this season ending Oct. 31, with sugar production of 9.6 million metric tons, according to the secretary-general of the country's Office of the Cane & Sugar Board, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

Rain hit California apricot orchards at the peak of their bloom this spring, but observers expect a normal-sized crop regardless. The Apricot Producers of California claim that cool weather during crop development delayed the apricots, but it expects harvest for the fresh market to start soon, reported California Farm Bureau.