The National Confectioners Association (NCA) has appointed Carrie Abbott as VP of membership and business development. Abbott will lead the organization’s efforts to grow member company engagement, strengthen industry partnerships and expand business opportunities across the confectionery industry. Abbott brings extensive industry experience as the founder and CEO of Newfangled Confections, where she built a […]
Category: National
Posted inOnline Grocery Technology, Featured News, National, News
Amazon Now Expands Ultra-Fast Delivery Across The U.S.
Amazon has rolled out its ultra-fast delivery service, Amazon Now, to customers throughout the U.S. Amazon Now provides thousands of fresh groceries, everyday household essentials and locally-relevant items in about 30 minutes or less. It is widely available in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia and Seattle, and is expanding in dozens more cities, including Austin and […]
Posted inGrocery Store Equipment, National, News
Vori Raises $22M Series B To Build Operating System For Grocery Stores
Vori announced a $22 million Series B funding round led by Cherryrock Capital, with participation from Greylock Partners and The Factory, including Stanford AI researcher Chris Ré. The company is building an operating system designed to manage a grocery store’s entire operations. It handles checkout and payments at the register, tracks every item on shelves, […]
Posted inSnacks Brands, Meat/Seafood/Poultry, National, News
PepsiCo Foods Launches Good Warrior Snack Brand
PepsiCo Foods is introducing a new addition to the protein snack arena with Good Warrior, a new masterbrand built for people who demand more from their protein. The debut product, Good Warrior Beef Sticks, launches in March 2026 at select U.S. retailers. The beef sticks are made with grass-fed and finished beef and deliver 10 […]
Posted inGrocery Research, Costco Wholesale, Featured News, National, News
5WPR Index Finds Costco Tops AI Citation Rankings, Walmart Trails
Costco emerged atop 5WPR’s 2026 U.S. Grocery Retail AI Visibility Index, the first to rank U.S. grocers by how frequently they are cited inside artificial intelligence-generated answers. The warehouse club retailer was cited most often when American shoppers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews where to buy their groceries. Trader Joe’s ranked second, […]
Posted inFinance News, Featured News, Grocery Research, National, News
Upside Report Reveals A Growing Income Divide In Consumer Spending
Upside’s new report “The Income Divide” reveals that high- and low-income consumers are making fundamentally different decisions about where and how much to spend. The findings, drawn from more than 10 billion transactions and surveys of 3,500-plus shoppers, show consumer behavior splits sharply at $75,000 in household income. Above that threshold, consumers report increased spending […]
Posted inOrganic Natural, Featured News, National, News
Independent Natural Food Co-op INFRA Tops 400 Members
The Independent Natural Food Retailers Association (INFRA) has surpassed 400 member stores in more than 650 communities nationwide. In addition, the association reached $3.4 billion in representative sales in 2025 and continues to lead the natural channel in dollar sales growth, at 8 percent year over year from 2024-25. Pat Sheridan, INFRA president and CEO, […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Featured News, National, News
Leadership: Be The Leader People Want To Work For
People do not follow titles for long. They follow credibility. They follow consistency. They follow leaders whose behavior makes trust possible. In an age when culture is tested daily, the enduring leadership principle is surprisingly simple: do your job, live your values, and give people something worth following. There is a leadership lesson that never […]