by Karen Caplan/President and CEO, Frieda’s Specialty Produce If you’re a retailer, you’ve probably already set your ads for the upcoming holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And chances are you’ve chosen pretty much the same selection of produce items to feature as you did last year: orange sweet potatoes, green beans, Russet potatoes and cranberries. I’m […]
Category: National
Study: Kwik Trip And Wawa Are Top Rated Retailers For Food
Dunnhumby, a customer data science company, revealed Kwik Trip, Wawa and Quik Trip are the top three retailers for food in the $291 billion U.S. convenience, dollar and drug channels, according to its nationwide study, which was released Oct. 8 at the NACS Show. The latest dunnhumby Retailer Preference Index (RPI) surveyed 5,500 U.S. households focusing on three […]
Sparkling Ice Launches First Line Of Caffeinated Drinks
Sparkling Ice, part of the Talking Rain Beverage Co. portfolio, on Oct. 8 debuted its first line of caffeinated products, Sparkling Ice +Caffeine, at the 2018 National Association of Convenience Stores Show (NACS) in Las Vegas. Featured in the Cool New Products Showcase, the 16-oz. cans are available in five flavors: Black Raspberry, Blue Raspberry, Triple […]
Wonderful Halos Kicks Off New Season With $30M Marketing Campaign
Mandarin brand Wonderful Halos continues to build on its success as it prepares to kick off its biggest season ever this November, with a $30-million integrated marketing campaign designed to accelerate category growth. The campaign features the brand’s “Good Choice Kid” television commercials, along with Halos’s biggest digital investment yet, which will increase visibility across […]
McCormick & Co. Opens Its New Global Headquarters
McCormick & Co. Inc. has opened its new global headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland. The state-of-the-art headquarters brings together 1,000 employees previously located in four different office buildings. McCormick Chairman, President and CEO Lawrence Kurzius was joined by employees, retired company executives, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Jr., Baltimore County Executive Don Mohler and local government […]
Green Giant Celebrates National Pizza Month With Cauliflower Pizza Crusts
Green Giant Cauliflower Pizza Crusts, the newest addition to the Green Giant Veggie Swap-Ins line, are rolling out to grocers for National Pizza Month (October). The veggie-packed crusts, available in original and Tuscan styles, have half the calories of a traditional ready-to-bake pizza crust and are made with more than 80 percent cauliflower. Green Giant Cauliflower […]
NAMI Applauds U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement
The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) is voicing its support for the Trump Administration’s efforts to reach an agreement with Canada and Mexico to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), renamed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. According to the organization, the agreement represents a positive step in preserving duty-free access to two of the […]
Study: Trader Joe’s, Costco, Aldi Offer Best Customer Experiences
Budget-friendly, community-oriented grocery stores like Trader Joe’s, Costco and Aldi offer some of the best customer experiences of 2018, according to a new study from global customer agency C Space. The study demonstrates that it is the emotional aspects of customer experience that help companies stand out from the competition and create growth. C Space, […]
Dairy And Produce: Grow Sales By Providing Solutions
by Cindy Sorensen/ Founder and CEO, The Grocery Group Today’s produce departments provide a great example of how grocers have reinvented departments within their stores to be relevant to consumers’ ever-growing and changing desires and demands. Several years ago, when local farmers markets began to pop up in library, shopping center and school parking lots around their […]
S&D Coffee & Tea Invests In Smallholder Farmers With CQI Q Processing Training
This year, S&D Coffee & Tea invited 18 smallholder farmers to take a deeper dive into post-harvest processing—a crucial step when it comes to the development of coffee flavor and quality. They learned firsthand about general processing knowledge, processing technology, good practices and quality assurance for the main processing methods. S&D has been working closely […]
PLMA Honors 53 Products With 2018 Salute To Excellence Awards
Grocery retailers across the country are turning to innovative store brands products to attract loyal shoppers as competition heats up between brick-and-mortar and online retailers, says the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA). “Gone are the days when supermarkets offered only commodity products that imitated national brands,” the organization adds. This trend is evident in PLMA’s […]
Premier Protein Introduces Sustainable Packaging For Its RTD Shakes
Premier Protein, a line of shakes, powders, bars and clear drinks, has launched new “earth first” packaging for its ready-to-drink shakes. Premier Protein shakes now feature FSC-certified Tetra Pak cartons and a re-sealable plant-based cap derived from sugarcane. According to the Premier Nutrition Corp., Premier Protein’s parent company, the decision to change its packaging represents […]
Imperial Launches Frozen Smoothies, Overnight Oats Under New Brand
Imperial Frozen Foods soon will introduce its new Happy Healthy frozen product line in grocery stores across the country. The line offers five 8-oz. smoothies, three 8-oz. overnight oats and a 10-oz. acai bowl. To prepare the smoothies, consumers need to add a liquid of choice to the contents of the smoothie cup, pour the […]
Delivery From Whole Foods Expands To Detroit, Orlando, Other Cities
Amazon has launched delivery of natural and organic products from Whole Foods Market through Prime Now in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Jacksonville, Madison, Milwaukee, Omaha, Orlando, St. Louis, Tampa and Tulsa, as well as additional areas of New York City and Seattle. Starting Sept. 26, Prime members in those cities can shop through Prime Now for […]
Babineaux-Fontenot Named CEO Of Feeding America
Effective Oct. 1, 2018, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot will become Feeding America’s new CEO. Babineaux-Fontenot has held leadership positions at Walmart, Adams and Reese LLP, PwC (formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers) and in government. She will be based in the hunger-relief organization’s Chicago office. “We are pleased to welcome Claire as CEO. Feeding America fed 46 million people last year. While extremely vital, we need to do more,” […]
Goya Prepares For New Jersey Trade And Beverage Show
Goya Foods is gearing up for its multicultural food and beverage trade show, Goya Global A Fusion of Cultures, a four-day event held coming up Tuesday, Oct. 2-Friday, Oct. 5, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at The Marriott of Glenpointe in Teaneck, New Jersey. “We’re excited to open our doors to our global trade show so […]
Quality Chekd Dairies Names Excellence Awards Finalists
Quality Chekd Dairies Inc., a member-owned organization of independent dairy processors, has named three outstanding dairy processors as finalists for the Irving B. Weber Award, which the organization developed and modeled after the Association for Manufacturing Excellence Award. This award represents the highest honor for overall quality throughout the Quality Chekd organization. Finalists are judged […]
Larkin: Independent Grocers Are Vitally Important To Political Process
by Peter Larkin/ president and CEO, National Grocers Association Special to The Shelby Report The 2018 midterm elections are quickly approaching, as observed by all the political ads that currently pepper our airwaves, and much is on the line for both political parties. A look at historical data on congressional elections suggests that Democrats will have an […]
Sorensen: Connecting With Hispanic Shoppers
by Cindy Sorensen/Founder and CEO of The Grocery Group The Hispanic population represents the fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S. In fact, by 2020, Hispanics will be the largest ethnic group. They currently represent 17 percent of the population and will grow to be 29 percent by 2050. This growth will occur in all regions […]
NACS Concerned About New Swipe Fee Settlement
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) has raised concerns about the latest settlement announced in the Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation (MDL 1720). “The broken swipe-fee system will not be fixed simply by Visa and MasterCard throwing some money to merchants,” said Lyle Beckwith, NACS SVP for government relations. “These […]
