Retail News
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. purchased a $48.2 million stake
in Dollar General Corp. The company reduced its stake
in Kraft Foods Inc. by about 5.5% to 99.5 million shares,
reported Bloomberg.com. Full
Story
Meijer is increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables
it sources from Midwest farms by 5% this year. Meijer
is now the largest purchaser of locally grown apples in its
five-state region and increased its volume by 10% since 2009.
Full
Story
Publix's experiment with curbside grocery service continues
a year after it began, but the chain still does not know
if it will expand the pilot program, reported The Lakeland
Ledger. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
T-Mobile USA, Inc. and Family Dollar Stores, Inc. will
offer a T-Mobile prepaid device in nearly 6,000 Family
Dollar locations, the LG GS170. Full
Story
Cellfire Inc. customized an app for Windows Phone.
Full
Story
Manufacturer News
The J. M. Smucker Company decreased list
prices for most of its U.S. coffee products by an average
of 6%. The decrease, driven by declines in the green coffee
futures market, primarily will affect coffee sold under the
Folgers, Dunkin' Donuts and Folgers Gourmet Selections brand
names. Full
Story
U.S. scientists discovered a naturally-occurring
agent that destroys the bacteria that causes meat, fish,
eggs and dairy products to rot. Researchers at the University
of Minnesota reported that bisin reduces the growth of bacteria
including E. coli, salmonella and listeria, reported Fox
News. Full
Story
ConAgra Foods, in partnership with Phil Lempert,
launched a "Smarter Shopping" iPhone app. The free app
features the latest food news and trends. Full
Story
Foodservice News
OSI Restaurant Partners plans to expand its Bonefish Grill
banner the quickest of any of its concepts. Meanwhile,
Outback Steakhouse may open restaurants for lunch on weekends
and added wood-fired grill items to its menu. OSI may hold
an initial public stock offering, reported The Tampa Tribune.
Full
Story
Sysco Corp. estimated food cost inflation of 5.9% in its
fiscal fourth quarter, driven mainly by increased prices
for dairy, meat, seafood and canned/dry products. Food cost
inflation increased from 5.1% in the third quarter and 2.2%
in the prior-year period. Full
Story
Sodexo will highlight Mediterranean cuisine at college
campuses during the 2011-2012 school year. Full
Story
Restaurant Roundup: Tim Hortons began allowing
customers to add espresso shots to their coffee and order
a number of cold and hot cappuccino and latte drinks that
use espresso as an ingredient, reported The Buffalo News.
Full
Story ... CiCi's Pizza introduced
the Philly Cheesesteak Pizza. Full
Story
Washington News
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire asked USDA to determine
whether to designate the entire state a farm disaster area
due to weather-related productions delays and crop losses.
The delays are the result of cold and wet weather conditions
throughout the spring and summer. Full
Story
Some 1,250 schools received honors from USDA's HealthierUS
School Challenge (HUSSC) for expanding nutrition and physical
activity opportunities. Schools participating in the HUSSC
voluntarily adopt USDA standards for food they serve at their
schools, agree to provide nutrition education and to provide
opportunities for physical activity. Full
Story
Global News
Cargill made a binding offer to acquire animal nutrition
company Provimi for an enterprise value of $2.16 billion.
Cargill plans to acquire Provimi's worldwide animal nutrition
business, which has operations in 26 countries. Full
Story
India fully implemented the Food Safety and Standards
Act, 2006. The Act officially repeals regulatory framework
established by the previously existing eight food laws, consolidating
them into the Food Safety and Standards Rules and Regulations
2011 under a single regulator, The Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India. Full
Story
Ingersoll, United Technologies Corp.'s Carrier and shipping
line AP Moeller-Maersk A/S are among companies promoting
cold-chain technologies in India, where about $6.6 billion
of food is lost each year because of a lack of chillers and
poor infrastructure. The push is helping local farmers sell
more goods at home and abroad, reported Bloomberg.com.
Full
Story
Canada's beef herd and sow herd are now at record-low
levels and packing plants are having difficulty finding
enough supply to operate efficiently, reported Meat &
Poultry. So far this year, Canada imported more U.S. beef
into Eastern Canada than usual. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
Five Guys Burgers and Fries is looking for suppliers and
potential business partners in Western Europe. The chain
opens an average of five stores per week in the U.S., reported
Bloomberg Businessweek. Full
Story
Starbucks Coffee Company will expand Starbucks VIA Ready
Brew to six additional countries, bringing availability
to all Starbucks locations in Asia. Starbucks stores in South
Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Australia
will carry Starbucks VIA Ready Brew in Colombia and Italian
Roast this September. Full
Story
Market News
Orlando citrus consultant Elizabeth Steger predicts growers
will produce 142 million boxes of oranges in 2011-2012,
or 2% higher than last season's crop of 139 million boxes.
Louis Dreyfus Citrus Inc. was slightly more optimistic at
146 million orange boxes, a 5% increase, reported The Lakeland
Ledger. Full
Story (Free Registration Required)
A mild California summer has been a boon to the state's
kiwifruit grower-shippers. The California Kiwifruit Commission's
preliminary crop estimate was conservative, and "it has
all the potential to be very close to or as big as last year's
volume" of 8.5 million tray equivalents, noted the assistant
manager of the commission, reported The Packer Online.
Full
Story
USDA will release its Cranberries report on Aug. 16
at 1 p.m. (EST). Full
Story
ERS will release its Sugar and Sweeteners Outlook
on Aug. 16 by 4 p.m. (EST). Full
Story
Sugar may advance 6% by December as China and Indonesia
replenish stockpiles and the crop declines in Brazil.
Futures in New York could gain to 29 cents a pound, according
to the median in a Bloomberg News survey of eight exporters,
importers and traders at a conference in the Philippines,
reported Bloomberg.com. Full
Story
EU-27 production of peaches and nectarines in marketing
year (MY) 2011/12 is estimated at 3.9 million metric tons
(MT), similar to the previous harvest, noted FAS. Unfavorable
weather conditions in some areas have been offset by a good
crop in countries such as Spain. Total cherry production in
MY 2011/12 is expected to reach almost 650,000 MT, a slight
increase when compared to the previous MY, due to the better
production figures in most producing countries. Full
Story
Scientists at USDA are studying soil moisture levels and
other field dynamics to help Pacific Northwest farmers maximize
the production of corn, a relatively new regional crop. Full
Story
An AMS rule would increase the assessment rate established
for the California Walnut Board for the 2011-12 and subsequent
marketing years from $0.0174 to $0.0175 per kernelweight lb.
of assessable walnuts. Full
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