According to Kansas State University and Texas A&M, dried plums possess anti-microbial properties that not only help make meat products safer, naturally, but also increase their yield and protect them from freezer burn without sacrificing flavor. What needs to be done to create a safer food supply from the farm to table?
College Place and three other schools in Washington state’s Edmonds School District have replaced milk cartons with milk in plastic pouches, as Eastern Washington state and some other states have done. They have recognized at least a 25 percent reduction in waste, but that doesn’t translate into savings on garbage-collection costs. Will consumers put their money where their environmental consciences are?
Boulder, Colo.-based New Hope Natural Media has formed a 20-member advisory board including executives from mainstream Bashas, Kroger, Lowes and Roundy’s to provide guidance to the industry’s two leading annual trade shows, Natural Products Expo West and East. How do traditional big box retailers create a successful natural products business within the existing operational model?
Publix Super Markets’ new Pix convenience stores have added a loyalty program tying sales at Publix supermarkets to gas prices at its two Polk-county Pix stores. Will the Publix/Pix program and others similar to it create more loyal customers or just trial?
Obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S. and associated health-care costs with obese adults amounts to about $100 billion. What type of impact are obesity and related wellness issues having on retail and CPG organizations?
Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ’s posted jumps in same-store sales in January. However, warehouse club chains did not conquer the world as predicted.
Anheuser-Busch Cos. rushes in with Bacardi USA to launch its entry “malternative” product, potenitally beating malt beverage releases from Miller Brewing Co. and SKYY Spirits, and Miller and Allied Domecq Plc. The new products respond to a 26.1 percent malt beverage sales growth ending November 2001 among beer industry core consumers.
Philip Morris’ cutting back significantly for the rest of the year in what could be a last call for its paid media advertising, is hardly good news for magazine publishers. Then again, in light of the disfavor of the industry’s Master Settlement Agreement with the states attorney general, perhaps it’s just a wake up call for businesses to generate revenue elsewhere.
Atlanta-based Blimpie International is dumping Coca-Cola from its 1,900 sandwich outlets for a better deal from Pepsi. Is Coke losing its grip fountain-side?
Moody’s Investors Service cut Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid Corp.’s credit and debt ratings, warning that the struggling number-three U.S. drugstore chain could have difficulty making interest payments and that it may not be able to “reliably” pay interest on all its debt “going forward.” The distress scenario envisioned by Moody’s is taken out of context from the Rite Aid that Robert G. Miller, chairman and chief executive, has inherited and is turning around.