Stagnito's Daily Brief

The Food Institute and iLumen, Inc. announced a relationship to provide access to the iLumen Financial Information Network and deliver a benchmarking service to its members. Full Story

The Taco Del Mar chain of Mexican-food restaurants is expanding eastward, with plans to open 100 locations by year's end stretching as far as Toronto and possibly Connecticut, adding to its current 235 stores reaching from Hawaii to Orlando, FL. In 2008, the company is looking to Australia and maybe India, reported The Seattle Times. Full Story

Seventy-two percent of U.S. consumer products companies are optimistic about the U.S. economy over the next 12 months, up from 64% last quarter, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Retail & Consumer Industry Practice's Consumer Products Barometer. While most companies are investing in information technology (66%) and marketing sales/promotion (58%), survey respondents cite new product/service introductions (56%) and advertising (48%) as two other areas for major investments. Full Story

Investor's Business Daily takes a look at how Craig Sturken brought Spartan Stores back on solid financial footing since he took over in March 2003. For nine of the past 10 quarters, earnings have grown at double- and triple-digit rates. Furthermore, for the past three quarters, sales have risen by at least 13%. Full Story

Coca-Cola is trying to shift obesity focus off its drinks arguing that even a 150-calorie can of Coke is an acceptable choice for some depending on their level of exercise. Coke Zero, which boasts Coke Classic flavor with no calories, is part of a new wave of drinks CEO Neville Isdell argues should also be considered part of the booming health and wellness beverage sector. Coke has even begun to change the words it uses to describe its drinks, tossing out the term "carbonated soft drinks" in favor of sparkling beverages. Isdell's remarks about obesity followed an hour-long address to the annual conference of the Consumer Analyst Group of New York in which he focused on Coke's plans to reverse years of stagnant stock prices with a bevy of new non-carbonated drinks, as well as innovative new diet soft drinks, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Although prescription drugs and other pharmaceuticals still account for up to 70% of drugstore sales, chain drugstores across the nation are increasingly offering food and other nontraditional items while pitching convenience, speed and low prices, in an effort to compete with the discounters and grocery stores that now offer prescriptions at a discount, reported The Detroit News. Full Story

An affiliated portfolio company of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., Souper Salad Inc. acquired substantially all of the assets of Grandy's Inc. from Spectrum Restaurant Group in a bankruptcy court auction. The sale includes one Grandy's-owned store, four stores managed by Grandy's, and the marketing, management, and operations of its 67 franchised restaurants. Grandy's will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Souper Salad. Full Story

Cargill and The J. M. Smucker Company reached an agreement in which Cargill will be licensed to manufacture and market a set of foodservice oils and shortenings under the Crisco Professional line of "zero grams trans fat per serving" oils and shortenings. The agreement initially features four distinct Crisco Professional products that have been formulated to meet the differing frying needs of foodservice operators. Full Story

Marco's Ah! Thentic Italian Pizza will open up to 21 Marco's Pizzas in Atlanta, GA. The company, which currently has 155 units across the U.S., plans to have units in 10 states by 2007, and 500 units by 2010. Full Story

Dairy product manufacturer, Dean Foods, will refuse milk from cloned cows. The company cited several surveys that showed Americans are not interested in buying dairy products that contain milk from cloned cows, reported Associated Press. Full Story

The U.S. smoothie market earned more than $2 billion from made-to-order and packaged smoothies, up more than 80% in the last five years, according to Mintel. Smoothie companies have remained on track with current food trends, utilizing "all-natural," low-calorie and other key buzz properties to build sales. Full Story

Diaz Foods became a member of F.A.B., Inc. (Frosty Acres Brands), a foodservice marketing and purchasing cooperative for independent distributors. Diaz is a distributor of Hispanic products in the U.S., providing dry, refrigerated and frozen products to more than 3,000 customers in 26 states. Over 85% of the company's 6,000 items are imported from Latin-America. Full Story

Neighborhood grocers filling a need for convenience, such as the Westlake Specialty Market, have opened in downtown Seattle, and others are planned to target the growing residential population in the area, reported Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Full Story

Tops Markets LLC is not requiring 650 former employees to return extra payments included in severance and vacation checks. The company overpaid the employees by almost $400,000, according to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 880, reported The Charlotte Observer. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Freddy's Frozen Custard signed an agreement with Piztro's restaurant to open up to eight Freddy's locations in Phoenix and Las Vegas. Freddy's currently has 11 locations throughout the U.S., with five others under way, reported Wichita Business Journal. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Shock Coffee, a hyper-caffeinated coffee with more than 50% more caffeine than other gourmet coffees, is now available in Canada. In addition to being available across the U.S. and online, Ontario's consumers can now purchase Shock Coffee's products at Euphoria Smoothies' North Bay locations, reported CSP Daily News. Full Story

In response to a recent Stagnito Daily Brief survey, 22% of respondents agreed with the statement, "The agenda of the new Democrat controlled Congress is good for the food industry," while 78% disagreed.

The Philadelphia Navy Yard is among the sites Tasty Baking Co. is considering for a new bakery, as it looks for ways to upgrade its manufacturing operations, raising the possibility that it would close its 85-year-old facility in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia, reported The Philadelphia Inquirer. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Part of a wave of specialty food stores sprouting around Palm Beach County, FL, Market Salamander is designed to be more than just the latest hot spot for gourmets-on-the-go. With inspiration from the traditional European marketplace, the shop offers a little bit of everything: specialty groceries, fresh produce, seafood from local day boaters, pastries, and wine and beer to match any cuisine, according to South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Full Story

New York-based Organic Juice USA, Inc. has been extremely successful in the U.S. with Turkish organic fruit juices, having attained almost $1.5 million in revenue in 15 months. The company's products are sold in 150 markets in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Connecticut and Illinois. Its latest accomplishment is that it entered Whole Foods Market, according to Turkish Daily News. Full Story

Australia's supermarket retailer, Coles, is to be sold or broken up. Coles Group said it was considering several "ownership options" after a downturn in sales at its key supermarkets division led it to cut its profit forecasts by up to 10% for the 2007-08 financial year. Coles last year rejected a takeover offer from a consortium of private equity investors led by U.S. buyout fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, saying it "substantially undervalued" the company and its earnings prospects, according to The Australian. Full Story

Canada-based Agricore United and James Richardson International Limited agreed to merge to create Canada's largest grain company with annual grain shipments in excess of 14 million tons, and an established presence in 50 countries. Full Story

Some nutrition and health analysts say the preoccupation with trans fats has gone too far, suggesting that in some cases, trans fats simply are being replaced with other unhealthful oils, reported USA Today. Additionally, the nation's fixation with trans fats is drawing attention away from other important reasons Americans' diets are so bad for their hearts: they continue to consume too many calories, too much junk food and not enough fruits and vegetables, the analysts say. Full Story

Honeydew honey has higher levels of disease-fighting antioxidants than the honey that bees make from nectar, according to research published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Honeydew honey varieties come from bees who collect the sugary secretions that insects leave on plants, reported HealthDay. Full Story

Product testing has confirmed the presence of the outbreak strain of Salmonella Tennessee in opened jars of peanut butter from Peter Pan and Great Value, obtained from ill persons, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of Feb. 21, 329 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Tennessee have been reported to CDC from 41 states. Full Story, ConAgra Release

FDA updated and posted a number of guidance documents that developed into a FDA Food Defense Awareness Initiative called ALERT. This new ALERT initiative is intended to raise awareness of state and local government agencies and the food industry regarding food defense issues. Full Story

USDA recently scaled back mad-cow testing by more than 90%, leading to closure of the mad-cow testing lab at Washington State University in Pullman and several others around the country. Meanwhile, the agency backed off plans for a mandatory animal-tracking system and now says the program will be voluntary, reported The Seattle Times. Full Story

Cub Foods and its parent company, Supervalu Inc., are accused in a lawsuit of fraudulently mislabeling beef and selling it at a higher price, reported Star Tribune. The lawsuit alleges that for at least six years Cub Foods has systematically mislabeled regular USDA choice beef as Black Angus, which costs more than other beef. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

The Florida Department of Citrus "suggestive sell" campaign for orange juice, which was tested at 26 Perkins in the northeastern U.S. in August 2006, will go nationwide at the chain in May and June. The department offers cash prizes and other incentives to servers and managers at each restaurant who generate more OJ sales by suggesting the beverage to breakfast customers. Last year's campaign increased OJ sales by 2% at Perkins and as much as 8.4% at other restaurant chains, noted The Lakeland Ledger. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

USDA published Michigan: A State at the Intersection of the Debate Over Full Planting Flexibility, which looks at the elimination of the restriction on the planting of fruit and vegetable crops which is likely to be a major issue in congressional farm policy discussions in 2007. Full Story

A strong economy in Mexico led to a new record for shipments of U.S. beef to the country. U.S. shippers sold 668 million pounds of beef to Mexico last year; however, overall U.S. beef exports have been hurt because Asian countries have been slow to reopen markets. Of those markets that have reopened, USDA forecasts a 25% increase in beef exports this year, reported California Farm Bureau Federation.

Global aquaculture continues to grow at an annual rate of 9% to 11%, which presents a significant opportunity for soy as an ingredient in fish feed. Overall, aquaculture will consume an estimated 8 million to 10 million metric tons of soybean meal in the next decade, reported Southeast Farm Press. Full Story

Effective March 26, applicants petitioning for approval for the use of substances in meat and poultry products are to provide four copies of the petition to FDA, rather than the three copies previously required. FDA will then forward a copy of the petition or relevant portions of the petition to FSIS so that both agencies can perform the necessary reviews simultaneously, thus reducing the time it takes to authorize a food additive or color additive for use in meat and poultry products. Full Notice

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service amended the regulations to remove vapor heat treatment as an approved treatment for bell pepper, eggplant, Italian squash, and tomato moved interstate from Hawaii. Full Notice

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) prohibited directed fishing for Pacific cod by catcher processor vessels using pot gear in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area. Full Notice

NMFS reopened directed fishing for pollock in Statistical Area 630 of the Gulf of Alaska for 48 hours. Full Notice

NMFS established the annual harvest guideline for the commercial lobster fishery in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands for calendar year 2007 at zero lobsters. Full Notice