Wednesday March 2, 2005

The "low-G" index could replace "low-carb" in the U.S. and could have an impact on food and drink producers, according to some trend watchers. The glycemic index, which measures how efficiently the body can metabolize carbohydrates, is highly popular in Australia where it started.    Full Story

New York City is very conducive to restaurant home delivery offerings and one restaurant near the city's Lincoln center delivers some 500 meals each night. In 2004, residents of the New York region were almost 30% more likely to eat a takeout meal than people elsewhere, according to The NPD Group, as 49% percent of restaurant meals sold in the New York area were takeout compared to 38% in other places, reported The New York Times on the Web.    Full Story (Free Registration Required)

The Tillamook County Creamery Association's dairy farmers voted to uphold a ban prohibiting them from vaccinating cows with an artificial growth hormone, reported OregonLive.com.    Full Story



Canada's Summer Fresh Salads Inc., which recently expanded its offerings of salads, dips and side dishes to include a new line of specialty soups, is profiled by The Globe and Mail.    Full Story (Free Registration Required)



Fine beers paired with fine food are focus of The West End restaurant in New York City. Beer dinners were the idea of two-time World Beer Cup gold medalist, according to NorthJersey.com.    Full Story (Free Registration Required)



The African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) says it is determined to assist companies in the region to penetrate the U.S. market and plans to sponsor companies to the U.S. in May to the Fancy Food Show in Chicago, reported allAfrica.com.    Full Story

Kim Crawford Wines, which is wholly owned by Canada's Vincor International, bought a winery at Riverlands Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand for $17.8 million. This follows the recent purchase of a 25% stake in another Marlborough winery, Whitehaven, by E & J Gallo, reported The New Zealand Herald.    Full Story



Lack of rain threatens to drive consumer prices for wine grapes sharply higher and dent Oregon's effort to establish itself as a force in the international market for fine wine, reported OregonLive.com.    Full Story

Gourmet Garage will be opening its fifth specialty food store in Manhattan.    Full Story

Traditional supermarkets are faced with unprecedented competition that has depressed same-store sales growth, impacted departments on different scales, and made store productivity the heart of any successful retail strategy. Retailers continue to struggle with determining optimal space allocations and where they can find space for growth categories and new businesses. The February issue of Willard Bishop's Competitive Edge looks at key measures that trading partners need to truly optimize store footprint and improve section and store productivity.    Full Story

In 2005, 18% of baking and snack companies indicated they do not plan to spend any money on capital projects, compared with 12% in 2004. Bakingbusiness.com highlights the results from Baking & Snack's 12th annual capital spending study of baking and snack executives.    Full Story



Hamburger outlets served more than 500 million more customers last year than the previous year, according to The NPD Group. Coffee restaurants served in excess of 200 million more customers in 2004, while donut shops served about 150 million more people than the previous year. Traffic at all restaurants in 2004 grew by 2%, the first solid growth since 2001, ID Access reports.    Full Story

BJ's Wholesale Club is preparing to open a prototype store in Cape Coral, FL, that will focus on testing new food merchandising initiatives. Last year, the company opened a prototype store in Kissimmee, FL, that it has been using to test general merchandise, reported Supermarket News. New stores going forward "will probably be a blend of these two concept clubs," said Mike Wedge, president and CEO.

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