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Wild Oats will open its much-anticipated unit in Portland, ME early next year, revealed MaineToday.com. Interior construction, which has been delayed while the Boulder, CO-based chain focused on straightening out its management and finances, began last week and will take five to six months to complete. In addition to the renewed effort to open long-delayed stores - Portland, ME, Lexington, KY and Costa Mesa, CA are at the top of the list - Wild Oats plans to open 10 others next year. In 2004, it hopes to add 20 new stores and then 25 in 2005. Full Story
Lotito Foods Inc., an Edison, NJ-based cheese company, has purchased the Paterson, NJ factory that formerly housed bankrupt Suprema Specialties, revealed The Record (Bergen County, NJ). Lotito Foods spent nearly $4 million for the 45,000-sq. ft. shredding, grating and manufacturing plant; packaging equipment; 800,000 pounds of imported cheese; the Suprema national brand name; and the company's import license. Full Story
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For Immediate Release - News Direct From The Specialty Food Trade At the NASFT Summer Fancy Food Show, held July 7 - 9 in New York, Fischer and Wieser Specialty Foods introduced 12 new products, including Texas 1015 Onion Glaze, Cinnamon-Orange Tomato Preserve and other sauces, jellies, fruit butters, jams and preserves. Full Release To submit your news release to be considered for inclusion in this section, please email an HTML formatted or .pdf version of the announcement to news@nasft.org. Be sure to include contact information in the release. |
Investors are trying to revive online wine seller, Wine.com. The new Wine.com, based in San Francisco, CA, aims to reach $100 million in sales a year, reported The Mercury News. Full Story
Washington State's 2002 wine-grape crop should weigh in at a record of more than 118,000 tons, up from 100,000 tons last year, the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers said, noted Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The non-profit association attributed the size of the crop to an increase in "bearing vines," those producing quality wine grapes. The amount of land in the state with bearing vines has increased to 24,800 acres from 17,000 acres in 1999, according to the association. Full Story, View Report
Grass-fed
beef is creating a buzz at San Francisco's Bay Area restaurants among both
diners and chefs, meat lovers and health enthusiasts, who say it is leaner and
more humanely raised. Many traditional ranchers, however, consider it a flash
in the pan, a product with inconsistent taste, severe production limitations,
few retail outlets and a hefty price tag that is sometimes twice that of conventionally
raised beef, reported The Mercury News. Full
Story
Advocates for Initiative 77, the ballot measure that would add a 10-cent tax on espresso drinks in Seattle, WA submitted the first installment of their required 17,000 signatures. The initiative has sparked sharp debate between advocates of the tax, who want the funds to benefit the salaries of child-care providers, and opponents, who claim such a tax is a bad business practice. The proposed tax would be applicable to espresso drinks, but not drip coffee, in many city retail establishments and restaurants, reported The Seattle Times. Full Story
Whole-grain foods, such as fiber-rich bread and bran cereal, may lower the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer by reducing cholesterol and making the body more responsive to insulin, researchers report in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Full Story
Koninklijke Wessanen nv has reached an agreement to acquire the UK's Kallo Foods. Kallo is the leading brand for an organic product range in the UK, which includes healthy products such as rice cakes and breadsticks. Full Story
Diageo is trying to increase its size advantage in the U.S. by reducing the number of its distributors and it is also combining the distribution of its brands, which includes Smirnoff vodka, with more upmarket drinks such as Dom Perignon champagne and Hennessy cognac, following an agreement with LVMH of France, reported Financial Times. Full Story
Starbucks is partnering with the Ford Foundation, aid organization Oxfam America and CEPCO, a coffee producers' association in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, to launch a "fair trade coffee" collaborative project. Through the project, Mexican farmers will get better prices for their coffee and better links to the specialty-coffee market, reported The Seattle Times. Full Story
The 191-unit Red Robin gourmet burger chain will open its first Wichita, KS restaurant in fall of 2003 and a second in 2004, under the management of Kansas City-based PB&J Restaurants, reported The Wichita Business Journal. Full Story
Monterey Pasta Company began distribution of its new line, Pezzo Grandi Chunky Stuffed Ravioli. Initial flavor offerings in the new line are Chicken & Prosciutto with Swiss and Mozzarella Cheeses, Atlantic Lobster in Sherry Cream Sauce with Herbs and Roasted Vegetables in a Light Herb Tomato Sauce, reported CBS MarketWatch. Full Story
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