IGA Cause Marketing Perspective

WWP, Kraft Foods and IGA... Together We Are Better!

A message to IGA Retailers from...
Red Oval Advisory Council Chairman &
Kraft Foods Representative
Steve Holdiman

Labor Day will soon be here, and that means the IGA/Kraft Foods national cause marketing program to raise awareness and aid for our nation's wounded warriors is winding down. And what a great event this has been. IGA Wounded Warrior water sales have been strong, and to this point we have placed over 1,000 Kraft shippers in IGA stores. It's important to remember, however, that the more Kraft shippers we place, the more money we raise for Wounded Warrior Project. As you heard from IGA's Heidi Huff on Monday, we have a little more than two more weeks left—just enough time for you to jump on board and help us end strong!

So today I'm asking you to take another shot at additional shipper placement in your IGA store; adding Crystal Light or Kool-Aid shippers to your water aisle will go a long way toward raising much needed funds for WWP.

On behalf of Kraft Foods, I'd like to thank IGA's Hometown Proud Retailers and Licensed Distribution Centers for their commitment to this great cause marketing program. As the father of a son serving right now, I can tell you that this is a cause that is near and dear to the hearts of families all over this country. Like WWP says, "It's not about the war, it's about the warrior!"

Lt. Cmdr. Brett "Ivana" Holdiman, My Hometown Proud Hero and Warrior!

Once again we have shown that working together as an Alliance, IGA Retailers, Licensed Distribution Centers and Red Oval Family members can make a difference. I for one am proud to be a member of the IGA Alliance—an Alliance that honors our nation's wounded warriors as the true Hometown Proud heroes they are.

Thanks,

Steve Holdiman

Retail News

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. will convert all SaveRite-branded grocery stores to the Winn-Dixie-brand and discontinue the SaveRite banner. Six SaveRite locations in two states will convert to the Winn-Dixie store format, with four in Florida and two in Mississippi. Full Story

Independent grocery chains are finding success in food deserts by catering to the specific tastes of customers in individual stores. Half of Philadelphia grocer Jeff Brown's 10 ShopRite supermarkets are in food deserts. The newest 66,000-sq. ft. store has a separate halal meat section for the area's Muslim shoppers; sales at the store top $40 million a year, reported Reuters. Full Story

Some retailers and restaurants are raising consumer prices to help compensate for higher labor costs, which increased the most in almost three years during the second quarter. Fifty-three percent of these companies with annual sales of $10 million to $500 million lifted prices during the last 12 months, up from 32% a year ago, according to a quarterly survey by Barlow Research Associates, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

Millennials gather information on products and services from more channels than Non-Millennials, and reported using a mobile device while shopping to research products (50% versus 21%), according to the American Millennials: Deciphering the Enigma Generation report from Barkley in partnership with Service Management Group and The Boston Consulting Group. Additionally, Millennials accounted for 18% of their monthly restaurant spend in the fast-casual format, compared to only 13% for Non-Millennials. Full Story

The average Android consumer in the U.S. spends 56 minutes per day actively interacting with the web and apps on their phone, according to Nielsen Smartphone Analytic. Of that time, two-thirds is spent on apps while one-third is spent on the web. Full Story

Groupon Inc. disclosed some details of its plan to offer location-based offers through mobile phones, developing technology that will track customers' location even if they do not have a Groupon app open on their phones, reported Reuters. Full Story

About 41% of New York City supermarkets reportedly complied with rules about pricing, labeling and weighing food, down from a 48% compliance rate in 2010, according to New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs. Commissioner Jonathan Mintz proposed the Grocery SHOP Act, "which would both give overcharged consumers 10 times the amount they were overcharged and that item for free, and also triple current city fines." Full Story

Target will no longer sell its products on Amazon when it launches a retooled website next week, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required) Meanwhile, more than 9% of Target's sales come from REDcard holders, a figure that is expected to rise to more than 12% next year, according to its CFO, reported Reuters. Full Story

New Store News: Stater Bros. will open a location in Grand Terrace, CA on Aug. 24. The store earned the EPA GreenChill Gold Award. Full Story ... Murray's Cheese will have three shops in the Boulder, CO-area by the end of November, followed by several others in the region, reported Westword.com. Full Story

Consumers who shop at any of Lucky Supermarkets' greater Bay Area, CA stores using the Lucky Rewards Card can earn discounts on fuel redeemable at participating Shell stations beginning Aug. 22. Full Story

Manufacturer News

New Product News: Unilever North America launched Bertolli Premium Meal Soups for Two in four varieties. Full Story ... New World Pasta Company introduced Ronzoni Pasta Portions, single-serving boil-in-bag pouches that cook in three minutes. The product is available in three varieties. Full Story ... General Mills introduced Totino's Pizza Stuffers. Full Story ... FMF Power Beverage expanded distribution to Sacramento, CA and Phoenix, AZ. Full Story

Carl Icahn is seeking to install himself and 10 other directors on Clorox' board after his offer to buy the company was rejected, according to an SEC filing, reported The Associated Press. Full Story

Dave's Killer Bread sells roughly 750,000 loaves a month and Oregon Grains sells 6,000 loaves at co-ops, New Seasons, Fred Meyers and Whole Foods. The breads source all of its ingredients from Oregon. The vast majority of the sales are in the greater Portland area, reported OregonLive.com. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Lesaffre Yeast Corp.'s Red Star and Saf brands are available through Alice.com, a retail platform that enables manufacturers to sell direct to their end-customers. Full Story

Foodservice News

Burger King will change its target demographic to Moms instead of teens in an attempt to increase sales. The company will modernize stores over the next year and reintroduce the Breakfast Croissan'wich, reported USA Today. Full Story

Washington News

FDA released the Employee Health and Personal Hygiene Interactive Resource Disk for use by foodservice establishments and retail food stores in preventing transmission of foodborne pathogens that are often transmitted by sick employees. Full Story

FNS is requesting information from the public on nutrition information and ingredient lists made available to schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. The agency is interested in examining what nutrition information and ingredient lists are made available to schools, the manner and scope of the information's accessibility and how that information and accessibility compare with the information schools may be seeking. Full Notice

The operator of Tavern Direct made a $1.3 million bid for Tavern on the Green's intellectual property rights. The sale is subject to competitive bidding in a Bankruptcy Court approved sale process. Full Story

USDA issued a $75 million loan guarantee to support construction of a waste-to-energy bioprocessing facility in Vero Beach, FL. Full Story

Global News

Pactiv Foodservice/Food Packaging will open a multi-million dollar facility in Mexico City to better service the growing Mexican market. The proposed facility will offer a full range of paper, foam and plastic cups and tableware. Full Story

MTY Food Group Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary MTY Tiki Ming Enterprises Inc. entered into a binding agreement to acquire the assets of Mr. Submarine Ltd. for total consideration of $23.3 million in cash. Closing is expected on or before Oct. 31. Full Story In addition, MTY Food Group Inc.'s wholly owned subsidiary MTY Tiki Ming Enterprises Inc. also entered into a binding agreement to acquire the assets of Koryo Korean BBQ Franchise Corp. for total consideration of about $1.8 million in cash. Closing is expected on or before Sept. 30. Full Story

Japanese inspectors found the first case of radioactive contamination in rice in a sample from Hokota, about 90 miles south of the Fukushima plant. The prefecture stated the radiation was well within safe levels, reported The New York Times on the Web. Full Story (NYT Subscription Required)

Japan partially lifted its ban on cattle shipments from Miyagi prefecture but kept its ban on beef from Fukushima due to excessive levels of radioactive caesium, reported Reuters. Full Story

Sugar stockpiles in the EU are too low to meet demand because of constrained imports and adverse weather that hurt production, according to Nestle SA. Prices for sugar-based foods in the EU may rise as much as 20% by April on higher costs for the sweetener, noted R&R Ice Cream Plc, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

India may produce less sugar than it consumes as early as October 2012, possibly spurring the first net imports in three years, according to ITC Ltd. That would push up global prices, according to Standard Chartered Plc, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

Sugar sales from government stockpiles in China will not make up for a domestic shortage, experts claim, increasing the possibility of more imports and higher prices. Sugar production will fall to 10.5 million metric tons in the current crop year from 10.7 million metric tons a year earlier, according to the China Sugar Association, reported China Daily. Full Story

Sales of Emmental cheese are falling mostly due to the rising value of the Swiss franc, up nearly 50% against the Euro in the past two years. The result is that the Swiss are importing less expensive cheese from countries that use the Euro, reported TIME. Full Story

SATS Investments Pte Ltd. (SPIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of SATS Ltd., and OCS Ventures Pte Ltd. entered into an agreement which will establish a joint venture company to provide food and allied services to client companies operating in remote areas worldwide. SIPL will take a 51% stake. Full Story

Brazil saw food prices jump 0.2% through mid-August, from a decline of 0.39% in the previous month, according to the national statistics agency, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

Market News

The Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission landed more than 21 million-lbs. of the crabs in the nine-month season ended Aug. 14. The average annual harvest over the past 30 years is about 12 million-lbs., reported OregonLive.com. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

USDA will release its Mushrooms report on Aug. 19 at 3:00 p.m. EST. View Report

APHIS determined that certain areas in Argentina are pest- free areas for South American fruit fly (Anastrepha fraterculus) and all other economically important species of Anastrepha. The determination was made in response to a request from the government of Argentina. Full Notice

USDA submitted multiple information collection requirement(s) to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance, including AMS' collection of information on various aspects of the grain and feed industry in determining available supplies and current pricing and the Livestock and Grain News reports. Full Notice

The Department of Commerce revealed the final results and partial rescission of the fifth administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain frozen warmwater shrimp from China. The department continues to find that Hilltop has not sold subject merchandise at less than normal value during the period of review of Feb. 1, 2009, through Jan. 31, 2010. Full Notice