Retail News
Millennials are much less loyal to both food brands and
traditional grocery stores, with 47% of millenials stating
brands were "extremely" or "somewhat"
important in their purchasing decision for groceries, compared
with 61% of Baby Boomers, according to the Trouble in Aisle
5 study from global investment bank Jefferies and advisory
firm AlixPartners. Additionally, only 41% of Millennials'
total food spending is at traditional grocers, compared with
50% of Baby Boomers' total food spending. Full
Story, Full
Study
Walmart and Target spent a combined $3.5 billion on advertising
in 2011, ranking 14th and 19th in Advertising Age's
Top 100 Advertisers, down 8% and up 7%, respectively from
2010. As for supermarket chains, two made the list: No. 72
Kroger with $532 million (down 0.2%) in ad spending, and Safeway
at No. 100 with $382 million in sales, down 11.4%. Full
Story
Publix, Hy-Vee, Chick-fil-A, H.E.B., Sam's Club, Winn-Dixie,
ShopRite, Aldi, Starbucks and Giant Eagle were among the food
retailers who received high marks for customer service in
Temkin Group's 2012 Temkin Customer Service Ratings survey.
Grocery chains were the only industry to earn a "strong" rating.
Full
Story
Walmart is continuing its expansion in the Twin
Cities with proposals for new stores in Cottage Grove
and Andover. The chain has four new stores under construction
in the area and has floated plans in other cities including
Roseville, reported Finance & Commerce. Full
Story (Paid Subscription Required)
Wawa plans to open six stores in Orlando, FL in 2012,
and open its first stores in Tampa in 2013. Throughout the
Orlando/Tampa markets, Wawa plans to open 20 stores in 2013,
25 stores in 2014 and 25 stores in 2015, and projects they
will open 100 stores in those markets in the next five years.
Full
Story
New Store News: Tops Friendly Markets
will open its 35th store in North Boston, NY. Full
Story ... Fairway Market will open its fourth New
York location in November, its first in mid Manhattan, bringing
its total store count to 12. Full
Story
Kum & Go is featuring QR codes on its fountain
soda cups to be used with the Bawte app, reported
Convenience Store News. Full
Story
Manufacturer News
New Product News: General Mills introduced
the Fiber One 90 Calorie Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookie bar.
Full
Story ... Tostitos is adding Baked Three
Cheese Queso and Toasted Southwestern Spices flavored tortilla
chips to its Artisan Recipes line. Full
Story ... Ready Pac Foods is launching
Disney-themed Mini Meal and Salads formulated specifically
for kids ages 6 to 12. Full
Story
Virginia-based bakery and gluten-free food manufacturer
3 Fellers is expanding its distribution to approximately
20 Whole Foods supermarkets in Florida and 30 Earth Fare grocery
stores in six Eastern states by July. Full
Story
In an effort to improve public understanding
of modern food production, the International Food Information
Council Foundation produced five videos featuring leading
physicians in the fields of pediatrics, food allergy and obstetrics
who answer frequently asked questions about food biotechnology.
The videos cover the following topics as they relate
to food biotechnology: Safety; Allergies; Children; Benefits;
and Labeling. Full
Story
Executives on the Move: Jones Soda named
Jennifer Cue CEO. Full
Story
Foodservice
News
Texas had eight of the 15 most rapidly growing large cities
between Apr. 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011, according to population
estimates for all of the nation's incorporated cities and
towns and minor civil divisions released by the U.S. Census
Bureau. Among cities with populations of 100,000 or more in
2010, New Orleans, still rebounding from the effects of Hurricane
Katrina in 2005, ranked first, growing by 4.9%, or 79.2% of
the pre-Katrina estimate. Full
Release
Meanwhile, Dallas is the No. 1 market for incidence of
super-heavy fast-food users in the U.S., according to
findings from a Quick-Track Study conducted by Sandelman &
Associates. In 2011, 34% of the population in Dallas patronized
a quick-service restaurant 20 or more times a month. Three
of the Top 10 super-heavy user markets are in Texas and three
are in the Carolinas. Full
Story
Sodexo introduced Local Artisan, a farm-to-table,
chef-driven dining concept that brings locally-grown menus
to corporate cafes. The company plans to open 10 Local Artisan
locations in the coming year. Full
Story
Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano was the highest-ranked restaurant
overall in Consumer Reports' survey of full-service
chain restaurants, while Friendly's and Johnny Rockets received
some of the lowest ratings overall. The top three family restaurants
were First Watch, The Original Pancake House and Le Peep,
reported MSNBC.com. Full
Story, Full
Rankings (Subscription Required)
Schaumburg, IL will be the first Starbucks location outside
the Pacific Northwest to have the Starbucks Evenings concept
that offers wine, beer and a small plates menu. The chain
is planning to offer wine and an evening menu at as many as
six more Chicago-area locations by year end, reported Chicago
Tribune. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Greencore Group acquired H.C. Schau & Son, a fresh
food manufacturer with facilities in Chicago and Jacksonville,
FL for $13 million and a deferred cash consideration of $4.3
million. Schau is a producer of fresh sandwiches and sushi,
entrees and other ready to eat items sold through both the
convenience store and grocery retail channels and with 2011
revenues of $32 million. Full
Story
Washington News
An Oregon State Senator asked for a 60-day extension to
the public comment period on a measure that would require
cooks to wear gloves or otherwise avoid touching food with
their bare hands. The office also considered working to overturn
the change in the Legislature. Restaurant owners argued the
requirement would not prove safer than the state's current
rigorous hand-washing practices, reported OregonLive.com.
Full
Story
Banner Mountain Sprouts initiated a voluntary recall of
organic sprouts because they may be contaminated with salmonella.
Full
Story
Global News
Australian grocery wholesaler Metcash will raise up to
$375 million to fund new acquisitions by issuing
new shares. The group, which supplies groceries to IGA supermarkets,
reported a significant decline in profitability and will use
funds to buy out hardware store Mitre 10 and fund other acquisitions,
reported Herald Sun. Full
Story
Danone became the majority shareholder of Morocco's Centrale
Laitiere, raising its interest to 67% for a total $683
million. Centrale Laitiere, of which Danone has been a 29%
shareholder since 2001, is Morocco's leading dairy product
company with nearly 60% of the market. Full
Story
The Greek hotel and foodservice industry comprises principally
over 9,700 hotels and more than 115,000 among restaurants,
cafeterias, bars, and entertainment centers. Greece's recession
transformed the foodservice industry, with the VAT increase
in September 2011 causing a 40% decline in restaurant turnover,
with about 6,000 foodservice outlets closing down. USDA
Report
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission allowed
Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) to buy
28 pubs but objected to the purchase of five takeaway liquor
outlets. The purchase of the five takeaway outlets by ALH,
which is 75%-owned by supermarket chain Woolworths, would
lead to a "significant increase in concentration and loss
of competitive tension" in their locations in New South Wales
state, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full
Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Market News
U.S. tart cherry production is forecast at 73.1 million-lbs.,
down 68% from the 2011 production. The majority of Michigan
growers lost all of their harvestable crop this year. In Washington,
winter conditions were moderate and warm spring conditions
allowed for an excellent bloom. Production in Utah is expected
to be similar to last year's level. All areas of New York
were hit extremely hard with freezing temperatures that followed
warm March weather. USDA
Report
In California's Monterey County, leaf lettuce took over
the No. 1 spot with a value of $777.4 million (a 7% increase),
compared to $713.9 million for strawberries (down 5%), according
to the 2011 Monterey County Crop Report. Other top
crops included head lettuce at $454.2 million (down 11%) and
broccoli at $297.3 million (no change). Full
Story
South African total citrus exports in 2012 are estimated
at nearly 1.5 million metric tons, representing a 5% increase
compared to 2011 on good weather conditions. USDA
Report
An AMS final decision recommends adoption of a proposal
to amend the Pool Plant provisions of the Mideast Federal
milk marketing order to reflect that distributing plants physically
located within the marketing area with a Class I utilization
of at least 30%, and with combined route disposition and transfers
of at least 50% distributed into federal milk marketing areas,
would be regulated as a Pool Distributing Plant under the
terms of the order. Full
Notice
HLB Specialties is starting to import Guatemalan
rambutan. The papaya specialist received its first
shipment on June 25 and is marketing the tropical fruit through
a major retailer's Florida stores, reported The Packer
Online. Full
Story
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