Retail News
Consumer expenditures for food during April increased
only 0.4% from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted
basis, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA). That is half of the 0.8% growth in March. Overall,
seasonally adjusted consumer expenditures were up 0.4% between
April and March, with expenditures for energy (including gasoline)
leading the pack, climbing 2.3% on the heels of a 3.7% jump
in March. And as noted by an economist in The Wall Street
Journal, "nearly all the rise in nominal personal
spending in April was due to higher prices." BEA
Release, Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
99 Cents Only Stores plans to open at least 16 stores
in its fiscal 2012, with most of its new stores expected to
be opened in California. The first new stores should open
in July and the majority of the store openings will be in
the second half of fiscal 2012. Full
Story Meanwhile, Dollar General Corp. plans to open
its first stores in California in 2012. Full
Story
Pershing Square Capital Management LP bought 5.8 million
shares in Family Dollar Stores Inc., worth $295.8 million
at the end of the quarter, according to a regulatory filing.
The purchase amounts to 4.7% of Family Dollar's stock, reported
The Wall Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
About 72% of consumers with smartphones use them to receive
coupons, product deals and price alerts. Approximately
34% compare prices online while shopping in a store. Some
21% use product bar code scanning to find the best price,
according to a mobile shopping survey by PriceGrabber. Full
Story
New Product News: Friendly's is rolling out
its 2011 ice cream flavor and product additions, including
Thin Mints Cookie Ice Cream Cake, five new 48-oz. carton flavors
and single serve ice cream cups. Full
Story ... Sara Lee introduced Ball Park Deli Style
Beef Franks in two varieties. Full
Story ... Becker Lane Organic Farm introduced Applegate
Organics Uncured Thick Cut Bacon at Whole Foods Market stores
in 13 states. Full
Story ... Sensient Colors LLC introduced microfine
natural colors for applications including topical seasonings,
dry mix beverages and powdered food applications. Full
Story
Manufacturer News
Tate & Lyle will reopen its McIntosh,
AL-based sucralose plant in 2013 to meet growing demand
for the sweetener, reported The Associated Press. Full
Story
Coca-Cola Refreshment plans to close a bottling
facility in Annapolis, MD on Sept. 2, according to a filing
with the state's labor department, reported Baltimore Business
Journal. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Avocados are being seen in more items and
on more menus. Subway will unveil plans to roll out avocado
next week as a sandwich option nationwide, sliced and as a
spread. More than 75 new products made with avocado rolled
out over the past five years, according to Datamonitor. Domestic
avocado sales increased to 1.3 billion-lbs. in 2010, up 16%,
noted the Hass Avocado Board. Burger chains may also begin
embracing the fruit, claimed the director of product launch
analytics at Datamonitor, reported USA Today. Full
Story
Genpak LLC is looking to purchase a 215,000-sq.
ft. warehouse adjacent to its Cedar City, UT operations.
The $22 million expansion would provide additional warehousing
and distribution facilities and could eventually could include
additional manufacturing capability, reported The Salt
Lake Tribune. Full
Story
Heinz expects 20% of sales to come from emerging
economies next fiscal year, twice as much as came from
those markets six years ago. The emerging market sales were
boosted by acquisitions, with the company making emerging
markets "the centerpiece of our growth strategy over
the next five years," stated its chairman and CEO, reported
Dow Jones Newswires. Full
Story
PepsiCo's Frito-Lay Modesto, CA-based facility
was awarded LEED Gold existing building from the U.S.
Green Building Council. More than 98% of the facility's solid
waste is diverted from landfills. Full
Story
Sun Capital Partners Inc. affiliate VPS Convenience
Store Group acquired Virginia Oil Co., an operator of
17 convenience stores in Western Virginia. Full
Story
New baked goods are delivering premium twists,
global flavor adventure and never-before-seen convenience,
according to the Baked Goods: Culinary Trend Mapping Report
from Center for Culinary Development and Packaged Facts. Emerging
trends include micro-patisseries; gougeres, cheesey cream
puffs; and alfajores, a Latin American sandwich cookie. Full
Story
Relief Efforts Roundup: Kellogg Company
committed an additional $250,000 to support U.S. disaster
relief efforts. Full
Story ... Nestle Waters North America donated 800,000
bottles of water to health facilities and other relief centers
in Joplin, MO. Full
Story ... The CHS Foundation and CHS Inc.
employees will contribute a total of $84,505 to the Cooperative
Development Foundation and the American Red Cross International
Disaster Relief Fund in support of Japan relief efforts. Full
Story
Foodservice News
Chiquita Brands International entered into an exclusive
produce partnership with the Walt Disney Co. at Disney's
Florida parks, resorts and cruise lines. Chiquita will provide
fruit and salad products, reported The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Full
Story
Jack in the Box needs to "find a way to differentiate
themselves," according to a Technomic Inc. analyst. Jack
in the Box's problems are exacerbated by its heavy presence
in California, where unemployment remains stubbornly high,
stated a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst, with store upgrades
and menu changes not significantly affecting the company's
results. Diners with money to spend may also prefer newer
chains like Chipotle or Panera Bread, reported The Los
Angeles Times. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Popeyes restaurants experienced an approximate 6% increase
in food costs in its 2011 first quarter compared to last
year, primarily the result of higher commodity costs, and
expects food costs to increase by 4% to 5% in 2011. Full
Story
Health News
Omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon and other foods may
work with two blood-thinners to reduce the risk of heart
attack in stent patients, according to research reported in
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal
of the American Heart Association. Full
Story
Washington News
FDA launched a web portal on its enforcement activities
as part of Phase II of the agency's Transparency Initiative.
The information includes a summary of the most common Inspectional
Observations of objectionable conditions or practices made
during inspections and a searchable Inspections Database that
includes the names and addresses of inspected facilities,
inspection dates, type of FDA-regulated products involved
and final inspectional classification. Full
Story
USDA will unveil a new food icon on June 2 that will
replace the MyPyramid image as the government's primary food
group symbol, and will be part of a nutrition communication
initiative with recommendations, a new website with expanded
information and other tools and resources. Full
Story
Starbucks Corp. unit Seattle's Best Coffee LLC asked a
bankruptcy judge to reject Borders Group Inc.'s request
to end the companies' licensing agreement. The company claims
Borders is not entitled to cancel the agreement and continue
to use Seattle's Best's trademarks and products, reported
Bloomberg.com. Full
Story
The median age of Americans is 37.2, according to
a 2010 Census brief released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Regionally,
the Northeast recorded the oldest median age at 39.2, followed
by the Midwest at 37.7, the South at 37.0 and the West at
35.6. Of the total 2010 Census population, 157.0 million people
were female (50.8%) and 151.8 million were male (49.2%). Full
Story
The Department of Labor is submitting the Wage and Hour
Division sponsored information collection request,
Housing Occupancy Certificate -- Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural
Worker Protection Act, to the Office of Management and
Budget, and will accept comments on or before June 27 that
evaluate whether the information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the agency. Full
Notice
Global News
Mexico City's government enacted a virtual three-year
moratorium on openings of grocers, convenience stores
and hypermarkets to protect traditional markets and small
family-run bodegas from corporate competition. Retail association
Antad, whose members own 27,313 stores and restaurants nationwide,
stated that its efforts to overturn the regulation in Mexican
courts could take months while retailers are likely to redirect
their investments to other parts of the country, reported
Dow Jones Newswires. Full
Story
Target Corporation revealed its initial group of Zellers
sites, representing 105 locations in all 10 provinces
across Canada. Full
Story
The Alberta Investment Management Corp. could spend as
much as $715 million on private equity acquisitions in
the next 12 months, and as much as $2 billion in the next
three to four years. The company is looking at a number of
opportunities linked to supply chain logistics in agriculture
in Latin America, reported Reuters. Full
Story
Britannia Industries is attempting to transform itself
from an Indian biscuit maker to a conglomerate with an
array of products that span the entire food chain. The company
is looking to take an increasing share of the food market
in India, which is valued at around $250 billion and comprised
of over 90% unbranded products, reported The Wall Street
Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
The UK government's consumer minister published the draft
Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill, looking to establish
an overseer whom would be responsible for monitoring and enforcing
the Groceries Supply Code of Practice. The new adjudicator
would be able to act as an arbitrator in disputes between
retailers and their direct suppliers. Full
Story
Taiwan will tighten food-safety inspections after
an emulsifying additive was found to be contaminated with
an industrial plasticizer. The additive is used in fruit jelly,
yogurt drinks, juices and food supplements, reported Bloomberg.com.
Full
Story
Supermarket operator and beer maker China Resources Enterprise
Ltd. is eyeing possible acquisitions, according to its
CFO. The company is looking at six to seven deals in China
in areas including supermarkets and beverage, but nothing
overseas for the time being, reported Reuters. Full
Story
Illycaffe SpA is opening boutique shops in China.
The company plans to launch three to five new stores in
2012 in larger cities such as Beijing; the first Illy store
is scheduled to open in Shanghai by the end of 2011. Australia-based
Gloria Jeans, meanwhile, plans to open 50 stores in China
in the next three years, reported China Daily. Full
Story
USDA and The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
(AGRA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore
ways to help smallholder farmers in Africa through coordinated
research, exchanges, training and development activities.
The MOU includes AGRA and USDA joint efforts to promote seed
development and soil enhancement, reduce crop loss, manage
water resources, improve data collection, develop farmer training
programs, create market information systems and improve human
capacity and food-related infrastructure in Africa. Full
Story
African swine fever may spread across the Northern Hemisphere
if precautionary measures are not taken, warned FAO. There
is currently no vaccine for the disease, which is very often
lethal to pigs but is not harmful to humans. Full
Story
Market News
Farm subsidies are under scrutiny as budgets face
trillion-dollar gaps, reported The Lakeland Ledger.
The federal government sends roughly $5 billion annually in
direct cash payments to farmers of 10 different crops. Other
farm spending, such as loans, subsidized insurance, conservation
incentives and disaster payments, can cost an additional $5
billion to $20 billion annually. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Spain is a large worldwide exporter of strawberries,
with an industry worth more than $571 million a year. Nine
out of 10 strawberries are exported to Europe. At the same
time, there is not enough water in the country to supply the
industry, and as many as half of all strawberry farms in the
Huelva region are reportedly taking water illegally, reported
BBC News. Full
Story
USDA will release its Peanut Stocks and Processing report
on May 27 at 3:00 p.m. EST. View
Details
USDA will release its California Processing Tomato report
on May 27 at 3:00 p.m. EST. View
Details
The U.S. Trade Representative will terminate the remaining
additional duties on certain products of member states
of the EU as a result of the EU's efforts in support of a
resolution in the EC-Beef Hormones dispute. The Trade Representative's
action was made in advance of the August 2012 start date of
the possible second phase of a 2009 Memorandum of Understanding,
which the Trade Representative found to be successful in providing
increased market access in the EU to U.S. beef producers.
Full
Notice
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