by Terrie Ellerbee/associate editor Heritage Foundation Fellow and Fox News contributor Elaine Chao spoke to Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Midwinter Conference attendees about current economic challenges and upcoming changes to union rules that could profoundly affect grocery store operators. She discussed actions developing on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and at the U.S. Department […]
Tag: legislation
Posted in, Market Profile, Midwest
2012 Minnesota Profile: Grocers Roll Up Their Shirtsleeves for Customers
[gn_note color=”#FFCC00″]The 2012 Minnesota Profile originally ran in the January 2012 edition of The Shelby Report of the Midwest. Due to reader requests we will be posting our Profiles from each edition of The Shelby Report. The profile will be published on theshelbyreport.com one month after it has run in print.[/gn_note] by Terrie Ellerbee/associate editor […]
Posted in, Market Profile, Southeast, The Kroger Co.
2012 Georgia Profile: SNAP Changes, Sunday Alcohol Sales Mark Georgia’s Year in Grocery Biz
[gn_note color=”#6666ff”]The 2012 Georgia Profile originally ran in the January 2012 edition of The Shelby Report of the Southeast. Due to reader requests we will be posting our Profiles from each edition of The Shelby Report. The profile will be published on theshelbyreport.com one month after it has run in print.[/gn_note] by Katie B. Davis/staff […]
Posted in, Marketing News, Southeast
Anheuser-Busch Joins Effort to Modernize Mississippi’s Beer Laws
Anheuser-Busch and its independent distributors in Mississippi have joined forces with Raise Your Pints and other members of the Mississippi Malt Beverage Association to support legislation that would raise the alcohol-by-weight (ABW) limit on beer made and sold in the state from 5 to 8 percent. Mississippi currently is the only state in the country […]
Posted in, Beverage News, Marketing News, West
More from The N.G.A. Show—In Pictures
From The 2012 N.G.A. Show… In the photo above: Michael Sansolo speaks to the panel consisting of Chris Coborn, president and CEO of Coborns Inc.; Carlos Smith, president of Bodega Latina Corp./dba El Super; and Jay Lawrence, president of Lawrence Bros. M-A-L Enterprises Inc.
Posted in, Midwest, Southeast, Southwest
Kroger, Teamsters Ratify Agreements
Kroger Co. associates working at four distribution centers and two dairy manufacturing facilities have ratified new labor agreements with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The new contract includes a master agreement that outlines healthcare and pension benefits and local supplemental agreements that cover wages for three years. About 1,400 employees of the Cincinnati-based grocery retailer […]
Posted in, National
Teamsters Authorize Hostess Strike Pending Court Action
The Teamsters Union has announced that its members working at Hostess voted overwhelmingly—more than 90 percent in favor—to authorize a strike if Hostess is granted its motion to impose unfair contract terms as part of the bankruptcy process. Teamster local unions that comprise the national bargaining unit for more than 7,500 Hostess employees conducted strike […]
Posted in, Marketing News, West
Former Defense Secretary Gates Opens N.G.A. Show
The National Grocers Association (N.G.A.) 2012 Show kicked off in Las Vegas on Feb. 12 with and opening session attended by more than 1,400 independent grocers, wholesalers and industry partners. The opening event featured an inspirational speech by former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Secretary Gates shared his thoughts on the state of world affairs […]
Posted in, Southeast
Trader Joe’s, CIW Sign Fair Food Agreement
Trader Joe’s and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) signed an agreement on Feb. 9 that formalizes the ways in which Trader Joe’s will work with the CIW and Florida tomato growers to support the CIW’s Fair Food Program. According to the coalition and Trader Joe’s, the Fair Food Program is a “groundbreaking approach to […]
Posted in, West
San Francisco Bans All Plastic Disposable Bags
The Wall Street Journal reports that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to make it illegal for any shop in the city to offer disposable plastic bags to customers. The law expands a 2007 bag ban that applied to large grocery stores and pharmacies, and also mandates stores charge customers 10 cents apiece […]
Posted in, National
CRA: Sugar Industry’s Strategy to Pose as ‘Safer’ Sweetener
In a bid to revive litigation claims that a federal judge had dismissed, the refined sugar industry’s latest maneuver actually underlines its true objective: to confuse American consumers by suggesting that cane and beet sugar is healthier than sugar made from corn—at least according to the Corn Refiners Association (CRA). “The refined sugar industry’s latest […]
Posted in, Equipment & Technology, National
EPA Recognizes Ahold USA for Leading Green Power Purchasers
Ahold USA appears for the first time on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of the largest green power purchases. The company ranks No. 7 on the EPA’s Top 20 Retail list and No. 30 on the National Top 50 list. Ahold USA is purchasing more than 149 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power […]
Posted in, National
Study: Food Safety is Tops for Manufacturers, Consumers
In a new global study from UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a leader in advancing safety, food manufacturers identified product safety as a top business priority, but the majority of consumers believe food manufacturers can do even better to earn their confidence. The new study, “Navigating the Product Mindset,” explores the connections and contradictions between perceptions of […]
Posted in, Southwest
Austin Bag Ban Could Cost Texas 8,800 Jobs, Group Says
An alliance of plastic bag manufacturers estimate that a bag ban in Austin, Texas, could cost the state 8,800 jobs, reports the Austin Business Journal. The Journal reports that the American Progressive Bag Alliance is against the city’s proposed ordinance to tax and ban single-use plastic bags that Mayor Lee Leffingwell has been pushing for. […]
Posted in, Market Profile, West
2012 Arizona Profile: State Still Reeling from Recession
[gn_note color=”#66cc66″] The 2012 Arizona Profile originally ran in the January 2012 edition of The Shelby Report of the West. Due to reader requests we will be posting our Profiles from each edition of The Shelby Report. The profile will be published on theshelbyreport.com one month after it has run in print. [/gn_note] by Katie […]
Posted in, Southeast, Southwest, West
More Than 500 Walmart Women File EEOC Discrimination Charges
In a move to protect their right to pursue individual and class-action pay and promotion claims against Walmart Stores Inc., more than 500 former and current Walmart women employees who had been part of a national class-action lawsuit have filed a charge of discrimination against the retailer with the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission […]
Posted in, Northeast, Perishables
FDA Moves to Close New York Cheese Factory
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is asking a federal court to prevent a New York cheese manufacturer from operating because of a history of unsanitary conditions and producing cheese in a facility contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. According to a complaint for permanent injunction filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, Mexicali Cheese […]
Posted in, National
Food Groups Urge Administration to Reject New Food Taxes
The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) and a coalition of more than 30 food groups urged senior administration leaders to develop a fiscal year 2013 budget request that fully funds U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food safety programs without saddling consumers and food makers with burdensome new taxes or fees. “Food safety is the […]
Posted in, Southwest
Arizona Bill Requires ID to Get Food Stamps
Conservatives traditionally don’t like the idea of national identification cards, citing Orwellian “big brother” fears. Those same concerns aren’t always held when it comes to trying to keep illegal immigrants from getting jobs or welfare benefits, reports the Phoenix Business Journal. Some Arizona Republican lawmakers have introduced a new bill in the legislature requiring those […]
Posted in, Midwest
Hershey’s Facing Accusations of Child Labor in Super Bowl Ad
Hershey’s alleged use of child-slave labor will be the subject of a commercial titled “Hershey’s Chocolate: Kissed by Child Labor.” The first-ever Super Bowl “brand-jamming” ad will appear on a jumbotron screen immediately outside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, where the game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 5, alongside spots by McDonalds, AllState and […]