The Food Institute Report back issues from December 1998:
Wal-Mart To Introduce Long-Term Produce Contracts?
Dec 07, 1998 ... Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Bentonville, AR, is asking its suppliers to offer contract pricing on fresh fruits and vegetables on a long-term basis. Season or yearlong contracts have been a widely accepted practice in the foodservice industry and it is likely to become a common practice in the ...
YOU SHOULD KNOW.
Dec 07, 1998 ... The United Food & Commercial Workers Union announced it will fight efforts by Bentonville, AR-based Wal Mart Stores, Inc. to expand further into the grocery store business. The union plans to rally against the retailer's four experimental grocery stores operating in Wal-Mart, protesting ...
Sainsbury To Buy Star Markets For $490 Million.
Dec 07, 1998 ... London-based J. Sainsbury Plc, Britain's second-largest supermarket chain, inked an agreement to acquire closely held Star Markets Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Star Markets Co., Inc., Cambridge, MA, from Bahrain-based Investcorp for $490 million in cash and assumed debt. ...
NEW PRODUCTS ROUNDUP.
Dec 07, 1998 ... Bench Mark Brands, Dallas, is marketing Biscuitstix Breakfast Items. The hand-held line, encased in biscuit-like dough, comes in four varieties: Ham & Egg, Sausage & Egg, Sausage & Gravy, and Bacon & Egg ...Chung's Gourmet Foods, Houston, is out with a line of entrees that come with fried ...
Hot Dogs Recalled.
Dec 07, 1998 ... Hygrade Food Products announced in late November that one production lot of its 1-lb. packs of Hygrade's brand hot dogs made with chicken and pork has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The hot dogs bear the UPC code 545103 and the date cod JAN06B. The product ...
Retail Pasta Sales Decrease As Producers Increase Capacity.
Dec 07, 1998 ... While pasta sales have been flat in the U.S., producers are continuously expanding their production capacity. Only frozen pasta and pasta dinner sales increased, while dry pasta sales, which account for the majority of sales in supermarkets decreased last year. Competition is ...
On-line Grocery To Grow - But So Far Nobody's Found Out How.
Dec 07, 1998 ... E-commerce is big business for everything from books to airline tickets and even cars, but people are still reluctant to buy groceries on-line. Only $200 million of the $400 billion grocery industry comes from on-line sales, a relatively poor showing in terms of booming Internet shopping ...
New Product Activity Dips.
Dec 07, 1998 ... A disappointing 1,241 new products were tracked for the month of October, a 47% decline from the previous month's windfall of 2,323 new products, outlined New Product News (November). When September concluded, new products were only 6% off from 1997's total at that time, but this month's ...
mergers and acquisitions.
Dec 07, 1998 ... Avado Brands Inc. (formerly AppleSouth, Inc.), Madison, GA sold 36 of its Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants for $48.3 million, continuing its divestiture of the chain begun in December 1997. AppleIllinois Corp., Cincinnati, OH, acquired 23 restaurants in Chicago, IL and ...
noted in the federal register.
Dec 07, 1998 ... CHILEAN MUSHROOMS: This is the official notice from the International Trade Administration that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of certain preserved mushrooms from Chile. [FOOD INSTITUTE REPORT, Nov. 23, page 9] and that Customs officers must require, the cash ...
Alliant Plans Strategic And Operational Changes.
Dec 07, 1998 ... Deerfield, IL-based Alliant Foodservice, Inc., one of America's largest and fastest-growing foodservice distributors, announced a series of organizational and operational changes aimed at improving the company's responsiveness, competitiveness and profitability as the company continues to ...
YOU SHOULD KNOW.
Dec 14, 1998 ... No talks have been scheduled between management and workers at Canada's Quality Meat Packers Ltd. where a labor dispute began Dec. 7. The company operates two hog plants in the Toronto area, according to the Journal of Commerce (Dec. 10). Brazilian ag officials are looking to ...
Private Label Now Succeeds In Good Times And Bad.
Dec 14, 1998 ... There's a power shift underway in the $430 billion retail grocery industry. Losing share are products such as Kellogg cereal and Nabisco cookies and gaining share are the private label makers of like products. Indeed, the private label product share of total supermarket sales reached 20.6% ...
Wholesale Food Prices Drop Big Declines In Produce.
Dec 14, 1998 ... Paced by sharp declines in wholesale prices for fresh vegetables (down 16.1%) and fresh fruits (down 6.9%) the overall November Producer Price Index for finished consumer foods fell 0.6% from October - the largest month-to-month decline in wholesale food prices since last January.For ...
California Olive Growers Feel Heat To Diversify.
Dec 14, 1998 ... Feeling the pressure of foreign imports, California olive growers are being pushed to modernize or turn crops into premium cooking oils to survive in a marketplace they once ruled, reports Wall Street Journal (Dec. 7). California's 1,200 growers, who produce nearly all of the nation's ...
NEWS IN A MINUTE.
Dec 14, 1998 ... --Twin County Grocers has filed for bankruptcy protection, a move that is expected to put 650 employees of the Edison, NJ-based cooperative out of work by Jan. 27. Twin County is a grocery distribution cooperative owned by 150 independently owned Food Town and D'Agostino stores in New ...
Metro-Richelieu & AmeriServe To Form Strategic Alliance.
Dec 14, 1998 ... Metro-Richelieu Food Services, Inc., Montreal, Canada, and AmeriServe Food Distribution, Inc., Dallas, TX, formed a strategic alliance, from which both foodservice distributors are expected to benefit greatly. AmeriServe supplies 37,000 foodservice establishments in the U.S., Canada and ...
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS.
Dec 14, 1998 ... Back Bay Restaurant Group, Inc., Boston, MA, has agreed to a management buyout by its chairman, president and CEO, Charles F. Sarkis, under which SRC Holdings, Inc., Mr. Sarkis's new company, will pay $10.25 per share. Back Bay has 3.5 million shares outstanding, but most of the 26% of ...
Jewel To Move Back To Regional Buying.
Dec 14, 1998 ... In an effort to respond more quickly to changing consumer demands, Jewel Food Stores will likely return to buying groceries from regional brokers after its Salt Lake City, UT-based parent company, American Stores Co., merges with Boise, ID-based Albertson's Inc. early next year. This ...
Fleming Plans Overhaul.
Dec 14, 1998 ... Fleming Cos. Inc., the nation's largest grocery distributor, recently announced a five-year plan to overhaul the company and make it more competitive. Currently, Fleming is under pressure from Bentonville, AR-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Cincinnati, OH-based Kroger Co., which handle ...
East And West Coast Retailers Plan New Store Formats.
Dec 14, 1998 ... Grand Union Co., Wayne, NJ, plans to open its first two post-restructuring new stores in March and June, and to convert a handful of existing stores to alternative formats by next summer, reports Supermarket News. The two new stores will be located in Point Pleasant and Carlstadt, both in ...
Food Processors Lead Merger Activity.
Dec 14, 1998 ... A record-high 756 divestitures by food and food-related firms have been tracked by the Food Institute this year - topping the previous record of 734 transactions recorded in 1997. At the current rate, it appears the final tally for 1998 will reach around 800. For the latest M & A news, see ...
Canadian Scientists At Work On Nonbrowning Apples, Cherries.
Dec 14, 1998 ... Scientists in British Columbia may hold a key to increasing consumption of apples and other tree fruits in North America, reports Fresh Cut (December). Okanogan Biotechnology, Inc. (OBI) holds the world rights to the gene that controls browning in tree fruits and is collaborating with ...
California Is The Nation's Largest Food Market.
Dec 14, 1998 ... When it comes to generating eating-and-drinking place sales, California is the industry's undisputed leader as it betters it two closest rivals, Texas and Florida, by approximately 60%. California has 72,097 licensed foodservice outlets, which rang up $28.3 billion in retail sales in ...
A&P On The Move.
Dec 14, 1998 ... The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Montvale, NJ, is planning to close or sell off 127 stores next year, while investing over $400 million for capital improvements, which includes the opening of at least 50 new stores. An additional 125-150 new store openings are planned during the ...
Suiza Foods / Dairy Farmers Of America Form Joint Venture.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Suiza Foods Corporation, a Dallas-based company with leading positions in the dairy and consumer goods packaging industries, has formed a joined venture with Dairy Farmers of America pursuant to which the northeastern dairy operations of the two entities have been combined to form a ...
Food Stores Scanners Found To Be Most Accurate Among Retailers.
Dec 21, 1998 ... The Federal Trade Commission found that food store scanners were the most accurate among retailers surveyed in its followup report on the accuracy of checkout scanner prices. The report found that 77% of food stores surveyed passed its inspections accurately . Hardware stores had the ...
Hot Dogs, Cold Cuts Suspected Culprits In Food Poisoning Outbreak.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Federal officials are investigating a food poisoning outbreak that killed four people and sickened over 35 with listeria bacteria in nine states. Hot dogs and cold cuts are ...
Petfood Sales Increase in 1997.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Retail sales in the petfood industry totaled $9.9 billion in 1997, a 7.0% increase from the prior year. The growth is expected to continue in 1998, as petfood sales were estimated to total $10.6 billion this year, according to Petfood Industry. (Nov./Dec.). Over 50% of total retail sales ...
Patents In The News.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Researchers have been working on bolstering the protein quotient of plants, using the same techniques that genetically enhance plants to make them disease or pest resistant. Jesse Jaynes and Kenneth Derrick both of Demegen Inc., a biotechnology company in Pittsburgh have won a patent for ...
Organic Trade Association Study Shows Impressive Growth, Potential For Organics.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Surveying 56 manufacturers of organic products, Starr Track, a California-based independent market research firm, found impressive growth in nearly every organic product category, with overall average growth for 1996 to 1997 at 36%. From 1992 to 1997, product category growth is estimated ...
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Chock full o'Nuts Corp., New York, NY, has signed a letter of intent to acquire Coffee Holding Co., Inc., Brooklyn, NY. Coffee Holding had revenues of approximately $26 million in its most recent 12 months from the sale of branded, private label and green coffee. The deal is expected to ...
Non-Traditional Foodservice Locations To Grow In 1999.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Fast food branders plan to add nearly 5,200 kiosks, stands and stations and nearly $1.3 billion sales, to $6.2 billion, in a growing variety of non-traditional foodservice outlets across the country this year, reports FoodService Director (Nov. 15). The 1998 expansion drive fell ...
Hudson Foods & Two Employees Indicted.
Dec 21, 1998 ... A grand jury in Omaha indicted Hudson Foods and two of its employees on charges of providing false information to USDA in connection with contaminated hamburgers produced at a Nebraska plant in 1998. The contaminated hamburgers sickened a number of people in Colorado and Kentucky in August ...
NOTED IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER.
Dec 21, 1998 ... EGG PRODUCTS INSPECTION: This final rule from USDA duplicates, redesignates, and amends the regulations governing egg and egg products inspection under the Egg Products Inspection Act (EPIA). USDA has redelegated most, but not all, functions under the EPIA from the Agricultural Marketing ...
Manufacturers' Seasonal Offerings.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Elmhurst, IL-based Keebler Co. has a promotion called the "Great Holiday Giveaway" that is aimed at selling Keebler's cracker brands. The promotion will be on 25 million packages, TV ads and offer an instant-win $100,000 top prize. The ads will be customized for about 60 retailers in 40 ...
You Don't Need 100C-Stores To Negotiate A Deal.
Dec 21, 1998 ... By negotiating with manufacturers and DSD vendors for rebates, discounts, POS packages, and other programs, the Independent Merchants Network (IMN) is able to offer its independent petroleum retailer members deals usually only available to large-scale chains. For example, IMN arranged a ...
Slight Gain In Nov. Food Prices; At-Home Prices Flat, Away-From-Home Prices Up.
Dec 21, 1998 ... The overall November Consumer Price Index for all food climbed a marginal 0.1% with the increase attributable to a 0.2% hike in food away-from-home prices as opposed to food at-home prices which remained unchanged last month. For the year to date food at-home prices were ...
Consumer-Direct Buying Habits.
Dec 21, 1998 ... The current size of the consumer-direct channel is estimated to be 1% of the food and consumer packaged-goods market, but is expected to comprise between 8% to 12% of the market within the next 5 to 8 years, according to a recent study by Anderson Consulting of Chicago. The Internet is ...
Red Delicious Apples Lose Ground.
Dec 21, 1998 ... With consumers choosing a wider variety of apples, marketers of Red Delicious - the most popular apple in the U.S. - are trying to regain ground. Currently, the industry standards - Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious and Granny Smith - make up about 80% of the market, down from 98% before ...
Efficient Food IndustryPosing Dilemma For Second Harvest.
Dec 21, 1998 ... Chicago-based Second Harvest, the nation's sixth-largest charity and largest network of food banks serving the needy, is receiving less donations from its primary supplier, the food industry. Efficient manufacturing and distribution is leaving less surplus food in food company and ...
Study Shows Pork Lower In Fat While Chicken Now Fattier Than Before.
Dec 28, 1998 ... The pork in your grocer's meat case has 39% less exterior fat than it did just ten years ago, according to the findings of a recent study in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis (September). Meanwhile, skinless chicken, the frequent refuge of the health-conscious diner, has become ...
Penn Traffic Sheds 9 Bi-Lo's.
Dec 28, 1998 ... Penn Traffic Co., Syracuse, NY, sold five Bi-Lo supermarkets in northeastern Pennsylvania to Associated Wholesalers, Inc., Robesonia, PA, for undisclosed terms. Penn Traffic also agreed to sell four northeastern Pennsylvania Bi-Lo supermarkets to Weis Markets, Inc., Sunbury, PA, for an ...
Instant On-Line Coupons.
Dec 28, 1998 ... "Click & Save" Instant Coupons are now available to shoppers of NetGrocer, Inc. The NetGrocer Instant Coupon Page is the virtual equivalent of the store circular, offering manufacturer-supported price reductions on food and non-food items, with shoppers having to clip or mail in ...
Flowers Industries, Thomasville.
Dec 28, 1998 ... * Flowers Industries, Thomasville, GA, announced it would take a $70 million charge in the fourth quarter to close five plants. The plant closings are expected to result in cost savings of $16 million in 1999 and about $6 million annually thereafter. After the closings, the ...
Cargill Inc.
Dec 28, 1998 ... * Cargill Inc. has suspended operations at its palm oil refining plant in Malaysia as declining prices squeezed margins. The company's plans to resume operations at the 30,000 metric ton-a-month Kuantan plant in March may not happen if overseas demand remains weak, as other Asian ...
Triarc Restaurant Group.
Dec 28, 1998 ... * Triarc Restaurant Group, franchisor of the Arby's brand, signed an agreement with U.S. Beef Corporation, Tulsa, OK, to develop an additional 102 Arby's Restaurants over the next 12 years. The new Arby's restaurants will be located in ...
The fastest growth market for frozen pizza is Italy.
Dec 28, 1998 ... * The fastest growth market for frozen pizza is Italy, reports Datamonitor, a market survey company. Italians are gobbling up frozen pizzas at a poundage rate of 88 million annually, spending $327 million per year on it. The annual growth rate for the last four years has been 14.6%. ...
Researchers have discovered that the bacteria-inhibiting property of specific cranberry compounds has the potential to reduce the risk of gum disease.
Dec 28, 1998 ... * Researchers have discovered that the bacteria-inhibiting property of specific cranberry compounds has the potential to reduce the risk of gum disease. According to a study in the Journal of the American Dental Association (December), certain compounds in cranberries inhibit some ...
In its first U.S. effort to tout wine that is not tied to a specific geographic location.
Dec 28, 1998 ... * In its first U.S. effort to tout wine that is not tied to a specific geographic location, the Wine Market Council will launch test advertising Feb. 15 in Austin, TX, and Albany, NY with the theme, "Wine: What are you saving it for?" The ...
Wal-Mart Canada Inc. and Toronto-Dominion bank.
Dec 28, 1998 ... * Wal-Mart Canada Inc. and Toronto-Dominion bank have joined forces to launch a new credit card called Wal-Mart TD Visa. The card charges no annual fee, can be used at the 14 ...
McLane Distribuicao Ltda.
Dec 28, 1998 ... * McLane Distribuicao Ltda, a wholly owned subsidiary of the convenience store distribution giant, McLane Co. Inc., has signed an agreement to provide total supply chain management for Philip Morris Brasil S.A. and Kraft Lacta Suchard S.A. in Brazil. The agreement extends through 2005 and ...
New Products Expected To Fall Short Of '97.
Dec 28, 1998 ... A lackluster 1,216 new products were tracked for the month of November, bringing the year-to-date total to 16,915-down 8% from last year at this time. Since December is not historically a high-volume producer, New Product News (December) projects we will see another decrease in the total ...
Fred Meyer Expanding "Food In The Middle" Concept.
Dec 28, 1998 ... "Putting food in the middle, positions the department better for customers. And, it's easier to operate with food in the middle, rather than having a store with three separate entrances and food on one side or the other." With that philosophy in mind, Mary Sammons, president and ceo of ...
ASG & Associates.
Dec 28, 1998 ... ASG & Associates, Arlington Heights, IL, and D.I. Group, Batavia, IL, have agreed to merge. ASG is a full-service marketer of a select group of specialty food products abroad. D.I. Group represents more than 200 ...
Corn Products International, Inc.
Dec 28, 1998 ... Corn Products International, Inc., Bedford Park, IL, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the corn refining business of Bang-IL, Inchon, South Korea, for approximately ...
Hamlin Food Products Group.
Dec 28, 1998 ... Hamlin Food Products Group, Buda, TX, maker of the Jardine's Texas Foods line, has acquired Best of West, makers of the Buckaroo brand of soups, sauces, salsas and other ...
Interfoods of America, Inc.
Dec 28, 1998 ... Interfoods of America, Inc., Miami, FL, has entered into an agreement to acquire 10 existing Popeyes restaurants in Baton Rouge, LA, for $9.2 million in cash. Upon closing of the deal in early February, Interfoods will own all 18 ...
Phar Mor, Inc.
Dec 28, 1998 ... Phar Mor, Inc., Youngstown, OH, is acquiring Pharmhouse Corp., New York, NY, for $8.45 million plus $26 million in assumed debt. Pharmhouse operates 32 discount ...
Toronto-based Yogen Fruz's stake in Eskimo Pie Corp.
Dec 28, 1998 ... Toronto-based Yogen Fruz's stake in Eskimo Pie Corp., Richmond, VA, now stands at 587,700 shares. Yogen Fruz has paid in the range of $12.94 to $13.38 for the 454,000 shares it has acquired in the company. Yogen Fruz ...
South Africa-based Del Monte Royal Foods.
Dec 28, 1998 ... South Africa-based Del Monte Royal Foods is acquiring the Just Juice business, a fruit juice company serving markets in the U.K. and Ireland, from RHM Foods, part of Tomkins PLC. The company will ...
Britain's biggest pub landlord, Nomura International, Plc.
Dec 28, 1998 ... Britain's biggest pub landlord, Nomura International, Plc, has agreed to pay $613.5 million to acquire 1,241 pubs from Greenalls Group, Plc, a leisure-industry conglomerate. The deal would bring to about 5,000 the number of British pubs controlled by Nomura - a unit of Japan-based Nomura ...
In a deal that would create Argentina's largest supermarket group, Promodes SA of France and Argentine buyout fund Exxel Group are in negotiations to acquire local retailer Tia SA for $630 million. The Tia acquisition, which is still in the works, follows the French retailer's purchase of a 49% stake in Exxel Group's Supermercados Norte SA in September for $420 million.
Dec 28, 1998 ... In a deal that would create Argentina's largest supermarket group, Promodes SA of France and Argentine buyout fund Exxel Group are in negotiations to acquire local retailer Tia SA for $630 million. The Tia acquisition, which is still in the works, follows the French retailer's ...
Salim Group.
Dec 28, 1998 ... Salim Group, Jakarta, Indonesia, has agreed to sell control of the world's biggest noodlemaker for $570 million in cash and stock. First Pacific Co., Salim's Hong Kong affiliate, will set up an equal joint venture with Japan's Nissin Food Products, Ltd ....
New Group Targets Midsize Distributors.
Dec 28, 1998 ... A new distributor marketing and selling group, Select Marking, Inc. (SMI), Atlanta, GA, has been formed by Bo Strong, president, and Jimmie Zeringue, vice president, both formerly of Federated Foodservice, Arlington, VA, reports ID (December). The group aims to attract "midsize" ...