Associated Wholesale Grocers‘ (AWG) SmartMeals, its artificial intelligence-powered meal planning and shopping assistant built in partnership with Breez AI Corporation, has moved from pilot to wide-scale deployment across its member network. Nearly 100 AWG member stores are now onboarded, with 85 stores going live in January and additional rollouts under way. The announcement comes as […]
Category: News
Posted inOnline Grocery Technology, National, News
Afresh Expands AI Platform To Cover Full Store
Afresh, a grocery artificial intelligence company that built its platform around fresh department complexity, has announced that its system now covers every department in the store, including center store, frozen, general merchandise, health and beauty and the full fresh perimeter. The expansion makes Afresh the only grocery AI platform capable of managing replenishment, demand forecasting, […]
Posted inOnline Grocery Technology, Featured News, Finance News, National, News
Instacart, NVIDIA Build AI Platform to Unify In-Store, Online Grocery Retail
Instacart is building what it calls a “grocery world model” – a continuous learning artificial intelligence system that connects physical store data from its Caper Cart smart shopping carts with its online commerce platform in collaboration with NVIDIA. The initiative represents how it intends to use its scale across 2,200-plus retail banners and 100,000-plus locations […]
Posted inIndependent Store News, Executive News, Lowes Foods, News, Southeast
Lowes Foods Opens New Location On Johns Island, SC
Lowes Foods opened a new store March 12 on Johns Island, South Carolina, expanding its Charleston market footprint to five locations. The store at 3575 Maybank Highway occupies a building that formerly housed a KJ’s Market and which underwent extensive renovations before the transition. The Johns Island location features Lowes Foods’ signature “Originals” – specialized […]
Posted inIndependent Store News, Featured News, Finance News, Harps Food Stores, News, Southeast
Harps Food Stores To Acquire 18 Stores From Dyer Foods In TN, KY
Harps Food Stores has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire 18 stores from Joey and Jeanie Hays, owners of independent grocery operator Dyer Foods, with 17 of the locations in western Tennessee and one in Kentucky. Both parties anticipate completing the transaction by this summer, with store banners, employment and operations continuing with minimal […]
Posted inIndependent Store News, Deli News, Featured News, News, Northeast
Allie B’s Mac & Cheese Expands To 120 Market 32, Price Chopper Locations
Market 32 and Price Chopper announced that Allie B’s Mac & Cheese has expanded to 120 of its stores across six Northeastern states, one year after debuting in 21 Albany, New York-area locations. More than 34,000 pounds of the product were shipped in the first year to meet customer demand. The gourmet mac and cheese […]
Posted inAssociation News, Featured News, Midwest, News
MGA’s 2025 Bag Hunger Campaign Raises 1.9M Meals Statewide
The Minnesota Grocers Association (MGA) announced the Silver Plate Award winners of its 2025 Bag Hunger Campaign, which collected 1.9 million meals and $16,500 for neighborhood hunger-relief organizations across the state. Since the program launched in 2008, MGA hunger campaigns have delivered more than 47 million meals to Minnesota families. The campaign engages grocers, vendor […]
Posted inIndependent Store News, Featured News, Finance News, Meijer, Midwest, News
Meijer To Open 3 New Stores On May 6
Meijer will open three new stores May 6 – 159,000-square-foot supercenters in Bainbridge Township, Ohio, and Brownsburg, Indiana, and a 47,000-square-foot grocery store in Rochester Hills, Michigan. The openings bring Meijer’s Ohio store count to 59, Indiana to 44 and add a third grocery location in Michigan, where it has 125 supercenters and market format […]
Posted inCorporate Store News, Featured News, News, Northeast
The Giant Co. Donates 3K Hams To 14 Hunger-Relief Nonprofits
The Giant Co. is donating 3,000 hams to 14 hunger-relief organizations across Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, with employee volunteers also scheduled to staff food bank operations over the coming weeks. The donation targets protein access – an item frequently in short supply at food pantries – ahead of the spring holiday season. Recipients include the […]
Posted inMeat/Seafood/Poultry, Featured News, Grocery Research, National, News
FMI Report: Frequent Seafood Shoppers Drive 40% Of Category Sales
Just 10 percent of shoppers account for 40 percent of all seafood purchases, according to The Power of Seafood 2026, a new report from FMI – The Food Industry Association that debuted March 15 at Seafood Expo North America. The finding points to a category that looks stable on the surface but is dependent on […]
Posted inMeat/Seafood/Poultry, Marketing News, National, News
BAP Launches Responsible Seafood Campaign With Save Mart
Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) has launched its “Seafood You Can Trust” marketing toolkit with The Save Mart Companies, deploying the campaign across all Save Mart and Lucky stores in California. What the toolkit includes The toolkit is a customizable campaign with a suite of assets – including in-store signage, digital banners, social media content and […]
Posted inDairy News, Executive News, Featured News, Finance News, National, News
Schuman Cheese Begins Fourth-Generation Leadership Transition
Schuman Cheese has begun a leadership transition, elevating three fourth-generation family members into senior roles 81 years after the company’s founding. Allison Schuman has been named CEO, moving up from her previous role as chief revenue officer. Neal Schuman, who previously served as CEO, becomes chairman. Ian Schuman will serve as president of global, overseeing […]
Posted inGrocery Store Equipment, National, News
TRUNO Becomes First Certified Partner Of Toshiba’s ELERA Commerce Platform
TRUNO Retail Technology Solutions has become the first certified partner authorized to sell and deliver the ELERA Commerce Platform by Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, giving retailers across North America a new channel to access Toshiba’s AI-driven POS and commerce architecture. TRUNO can implement ELERA with retail customers without requiring a traditional rip-and-replace of current store […]
Posted inCorporate Store News, Featured News, News, Southeast
The Winn-Dixie Co. Converting 7 Supermarkets In FL, GA
The Winn-Dixie Co. announced that seven Harveys Supermarket locations in Florida and South Georgia will convert to the Winn-Dixie banner, the latest step in the company’s consolidation under a single brand following its rebranding from Southeastern Grocers in January. The locations slated for conversion are in Jacksonville, Lake City, Lakeland and Ocala, Florida, and Folkston, […]
Posted inGuest Contributors, Featured News, National, News
Crossroads: The 8 Sales-Building Touchstones
For the third article in our ongoing column dedicated to long-term success over the generations, we have invited keynote speaker and food industry expert Harold Lloyd to share his thoughts on some of the many ideas to help increase the top line of your ongoing business success and value. The most obvious influences on […]
Posted inPrivate Label Brands, Center Store, Midwest, News
Dainty Foods To Build First U.S. Plant In Batavia Township, OH
Les Aliments Dainty Foods, a Canadian producer of private-label rice and ready-to-heat meal solutions, has shared plans to open its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Batavia Township, Ohio, committing up to $150 million over five years and creating about 240 jobs. An initial $85 million investment will fund the first phase of the 250,000-square-foot facility, […]
Posted inProduce News, Featured News, News, Northeast
Double Up Food Bucks NY Surpasses 1M Transactions
Field & Fork Network’s Double Up Food Bucks NY (DUFBNY) program has surpassed a million transactions since launching in 2014, with more than 500,000 of those occurring in 2025. The milestone comes as grocery prices remain nearly 30 percent above February 2020 levels and food hardship stays elevated across New York state. DUFBNY provides a […]
Posted inMeat/Seafood/Poultry, Association News, Featured News, News, Northeast
Seafood Expo North America Expo Opens In Boston, MA
The 44th edition of the Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America, the continent’s largest seafood trade event, opened March 15 at the Thomas M. Menino Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston. The three-day expo runs through March 17, covering 247,915 net square feet of exhibit space with 1,215 exhibitors representing 50 countries. Major retail buyers […]
Posted inDairy News, Featured News, Grocery Research, Midwest, News
Land O’Lakes Voted Most Trusted Butter Brand In Newsweek Survey
Land O’Lakes has been named the most trusted butter brand in the U.S., according to Newsweek‘s 2026 Most Trusted Brand Awards, conducted by market research firm BrandSpark. The designation is based on an unaided survey of more than 35,000 American shoppers asked to name – without prompts or lists – the brands they trust most […]
Posted inSnacks Brands, Association News, Executive News, Featured News, National, News
NCSA Names 11 To 2026 Candy Hall Of Fame Class
The National Confectionery Sales Association (NCSA) has announced 11 inductees for the Candy Hall of Fame Class of 2026 and named Michael Rosenberg, president and CEO of PIM Brands Inc., as the recipient of the 2026 Distinguished Service Award. Both honors will be presented during the NCSA’s annual meeting Oct. 22-24 at the Signia by […]