Wild Oats Markets Inc. plans to expand its higher-margin
private label brand, adding 400 new or revamped items this year
on top of 460 new food items and 270 supplements last year. Wild
Oats also plans a shift in merchandising to include more products
that customers must now go to other stores to buy, including gourmet,
kosher and some convenience items. An example of the new items that
some of the stores have been testing is a less-expensive grade of
Coleman Natural meat, reported
Rocky Mountain News.
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Rising disposal costs for conventional plastics are helping to
make biodegradable containers a fast-growing business, reported
BusinessWeek Online. Additionally, the rising price of oil,
which goes into production of traditional plastics, has pushed traditional
packaging prices higher. Wild Oats, as a result, is paying 3% to
5% less for the eco-friendly packaging than regular ones.
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Story
Chiquita Brands International, Inc. entered into a definitive
agreement to acquire the Fresh Express unit of Performance Food
Group for $855 million in cash. Fresh Express is the No. 1 seller
of packaged salads in the U.S., with 40% retail market share and
approximately $1 billion in revenues.
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Story
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food away-from-home jumped
five-tenths of a percent during January versus a month earlier,
more than doubling the 0.2% increase in the overall CPI. Food-at-home
prices were more in line with the overall inflation rate, climbing
just two-tenths of a percent from December - 2.7% more than a year
earlier.
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The New York Times on the Web takes a look at McDonald's
new fresh produce items, which some believe could influence
not only the volume, variety and prices of fruit and produce in
the nation but also how they are grown.
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U.S.-based
Speyside Equity agreed to buy the fruit systems division
of Degussa, a German chemical company. The business supplies
conventional and aseptic processed fruit preparations for a range
of food products from yogurts to frozen desserts. The company will
operate under the name Sweet Ovations and will be headquartered
in Philadelphia, reported
Food Production Daily. Full
Story
Portland, OR's
Tillamook Creamery voted to ban the use of artificial
growth hormones (rBGH) for its 147 member dairy farmers. Some
10% of the members are requesting a general meeting of all 147 members
to vote on overturning the board's decision, however. The dissent
was organized by a lawyer for Monsanto, which produces the growth
hormone, according to Rick North of the Oregon Chapter of Physicians
for Social Responsibility, reported the
Organic Consumers Association.
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Story
The Business Journal (Minneapolis/St. Paul) takes
a look
at Mix It Up Inc., a do-it-yourself meal preparation center
where people can put together up to 14 meals to take home and freeze,
to cook later. The
Journal also profiles Tasteful Thymes
Inc., a "Crisis Cuisine" catering service featuring single-serving
dishes already prepared and frozen.
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Story
Medik's Market in Hampton, VA is profiled in
The Daily
Press.
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Story
Demand for specialty high-end vinegars continue to climb, according
to
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which reports one
retailer, Wine Merchant, regularly sells bottles of Acetaia Malpighi
balsamic vinegars for $100 for the 12-year-aged version and $145
for the 25-year-aged version.
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Story
The Las Vegas Review-Journal looks at The Truffle Market,
whose black truffles are going for about $500 a pound, and white
truffles (for which the season is virtually over) for $2,000 a pound,
partly because of the recent 60% duty on preserved truffles.
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Boulder, CO-based
Rudi's Organic Bakery will double its space
when it moves to a 61,000-sq. ft. building adjacent to its current
facility this summer, reported
Rocky Mountain News.
The
Los Angeles Daily News looks at Armenian cooking,
a cuisine that blends Mediterranean flavors with Persian, Turkish
and Russian accents, for foods like shish kebabs, sarmas (stuffed
grape leaves), dolmas (stuffed vegetables), basterma (air-dried
beef), boeregs (filo cheese triangles), lavosh, lahmajoun (Armenian
pizza), pilafs and kadayif (filo dessert).
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