Broad Street Licensing Group Food News

• Mmmm, “the airline cookie spread.” Sounds yummy. Belgium’s Biscuiterie Willems is looking at that trade name for its speculoos spread, a form of caramelized cookie, that’s being launched here as a nut-free peanut butter substitute by rival Lotus Bakeries.
• In order to handle projected growth in Florida, Publix Super Markets Inc. will double the capacity of its 550,000-sq. ft. warehouse in Lakeland.
• The first of a projected series of small-footprint Targets under the banner CityTarget will open next year in Chicago.
• K+S Kali from Germany is launching a new food-grade potassium chloride as a salt replacer called KaliSel.
• MaMa Rosa’s has introduced Pizza Grillers that cook on the grill or in their packaging in less than eight minutes.
• In other product news, BAB, Inc. has introduced a French Toast breakfast sandwich featuring a toasted & buttered French toast bagel, sausage, and maple syrup with the possible option of a scrambled egg.
• New food items containing the product descriptions “Caribbean” increased 150% from 2009 to 2010, with “Japanese” products up 230% and “Thai” ones up 68%.[1]

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• While the restaurant industry opposes regulations mandating paid sick leave for workers (though management and owners have them), a 2007 law in San Francisco mandating paid leave has been deemed a success for workers and involving few issues for employers according to a study.[1] The California legislature is considering a law that would extend coverage throughout the state.
• Family restaurant concept Fazoli’s joins a long line of operators who have tried to make outlets in Walmarts work. Subway and McDonald’s are notable predecessors who pulled out of the partnerships. Fazoli’s even cited the fact they were taking over from another operator as a reason the deal worked for them. The company plans expansion in “non-traditional” outlets such as stores, college campuses, airports, or c-stores and gas stations.
• Troubled retailer Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea (A&P) has already shuttered 25 stores in 2010, and is asking its bankruptcy court for permission to close another 32.
• Love your grocery store? Publix Super Markets was the top pick in the 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index. But don’t be surprised: Publix has won every year since 1994, though its rating dropped 2 points to 84. Second place finisher Whole Foods Market improved 4% to a 79 rating.
• Break out the champagne: Sovena USA has been named “product of the year” by market researcher TNS for its Olivari Mediterranean Olive Oil’s innovative bottle cap. When opened, a Pop Up Pourer emerges that retracts when the cap is put back on.
• In further indication of how grocery stores are evolving at the expense of other food & beverage outlets, Ohioans can now get draft beer at their local grocer. Or at least at some of them like Whole Foods. Bring your own growlerand tank up! Party on, Garth!

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Coffee Borer Beetle

• Reports say the Department of Homeland Security has stepped up its investigations of employers for possible illegal hiring by more than double over the past two years.
• The deadly (or at least deadly to premium coffee) coffee berry borer has infested Hawaii’s Kona coffee bean farms where beans sell for up to $50 per pound. The insect can cut yields by as much as 90%, and has proven impossible to eradicate in other coffee-growing regions.
• The limited shelf life of fresh-prepared foods is fueling the adoption of High-Pressure Pasteurization technology. But one side-effect of the process is the degradation of food texture that accompanies the high temperatures. Now Cargill is claiming that pressurization alone in its burger patties can eliminate food-borne pathogens like Salmonella, listeria and E-coli, while retaining the texture and taste of unprocessed meat.
• While Coke has declared biodegradable bottles “not a viable option,” smaller beverage companies are moving forward with explorations of the technology. The soft drink giant argues that recapturing the energy and materials used in multi-use bottles is a better option than single-use, biodegradable ones. Adoption of compostable packaging (known as “biopackaging”) increased 47% in Europe and North America in 2010, though current volumes of 100MM liters is just a drop in the proverbial bucket at this point.[1]
  
  

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  [1] Source: consulting firm Zenith International.

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• NPD Group thinks the rise in food prices at retail relative to restaurants will help reverse the “eating at home” trend. Prices for meat, produce and milk during the recession, coupled with high unemployment meant Americans were avoiding eating out.
• Convenience stores topped 146,341 by the end of 2010, up 1.2% and a record high number. Of those, 62.7% were single-store operators, with 80.2% selling gas.[1]
• Shipments of Champagne to the U.S. for the first half of 2010 were up 73% from the same period the year before.[2]
• Commodities prices are up overall, but the reason for the soaring bison meat prices are because the slower growth rate for bison limits ranchers’ ability to increase their herds. It is estimated it will take five years to meet current demand for the low-fat, low-cholesterol meat.
• Beer drinkers over 21 are drinking less imported beer and more domestic craft beer.[3]Only a modest percentage of beer drinkers (13%) prefer domestic craft or microbrew beers (compared to 43% for domestic and 22% for imported), but 59% claim they like trying.

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• Mmm, noodles: the worldwide market for instant noodles will top 139bn packs by 2015.[1] The Middle East & Africa are the fastest growing market for the product.
• In other wheat products news, the dry pasta industry in the U.S. stands at $1.7bn through 2009, with gross profits of 33%.[2] Imports from 59 countries totaled $330.5MM with exports of $129.2MM to 62 countries.
• For those who like spice, chip maker Herr’s Foods, Inc. has licensed the Texas Pete Hot Sauce brand from TW Garner Food Company to create a line of hot sauce-flavored potato chips.
• While marketing to Hispanics is at the top of many companies’ wish lists, all isn’t good in the Hispanic food world: Tienda La Mexicana in Lebanon, OH, has closed after six years because of the bad economy. The store sold ethnic foods from Latin America.
• California will now let supermarkets and large liquor retailers offer in-store sampling for the first time, but minimum-size restrictions will prevent it at gas stations or c-stores. Costco has already declined to offer alcohol tastings.
• After Kellogg’s and General Mills cut sugar in their cereals, Post Foods has announced its plans to cut sugar in two of its cereals.
• And finally, the good news: the president has signed the new food safety bill hailed both by consumers and industry. The bad news: The budget-cutting Republican majority in the House has not approved the $1.4bn funding needed to implement the bill’s provisions.

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• Whole Foods Market now has a program that evaluates and rates its chicken, beef and pork products on a five-point scale based on animal welfare standards. The program was developed by the Global Animal Partnership.
• Whole Foods Market near Seattle now sports a café whose happy hour boasts 69¢ oyster nights, 50¢ wings on other evenings, and deals to lure customers into buying goodies like a “no corkage fee” on wines purchased in the store. Whole Foods is just the latest grocery retailer to jump on the “grocerant” bandwagon by opening sit-down eateries in their stores.
• Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro has reintroduced a bill to create a Federal agency to oversee the nation’s food chain called the “Single Food Safety Agency Act of 2010.”
• Tasty Baking Co. of Philadelphia, the makers of Tastykake line of processed snacks, is looking at a merger or acquisition to offset lower-than-expected savings from its move to the old Philadelphia Navy Yard, coupled with a fall in sales following the Chapter 11 filing by A&P.
• In a development that will mean higher food costs for consumers and potentially malnutrition or even starvation in the poorest countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reported it food price index in December, 2010 reached a record, topping the previous record high in 2008.
• In an evolution of the private label trend, Publix is moving beyond the cheddar, Monterey jack and American cheeses into its own line of domestic and imported cheeses in 15 varieties, including off-beat items like Asiago and Spanish manchego.
• A new food allergen has been identified in celery.

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While we’re at the San Francisco Fancy Food Show, please enjoy the following “Tasty Tidbits”:

• Rice bran oil (made from rice) is becoming more popular because it’s free of trans fats, has moderate saturated fatty acids and high levels of antioxidants. It also smokes at high temperatures and therefore is better for cooking than olive oil.
• Data shows 93% of people surveyed bought food they never used, with the result that 40% of food wastage occurs in the home.[1]
• Obesity isn’t bad news for everyone: The international weight management market reached $7.3bn in 2009, and will expand (pardon the pun) 6-8% for the next five years.[2] Growth has been centered in the bakery & cereals and the beveragesegments (33.5% and 28.4% respectively).
• Although illegal, employees of McDonald’s in northeastern Ohio received handbills in their pay envelopes urging support for three Republican candidates John Kasich, Rob Portman and Jim Renacci saying the trio would “protect their raises and benefits.” Franchisee Paul Siegfried apologized later for the action. He is a contributor to Kasich’s campaign, who went on to unseat Democrat Ted Strickland.
• One of life’s mysteries is the rise of food allergies. While studies have shown that many who claim such allergies really don’t have them, peanut allergies do seem to be a growing problem in kids. A new study has uncovered a link between infants who tested positively for a strong sensitivity to peanuts and mothers who ate peanuts while pregnant. While no causal link has been detected, the findings point to the need for more study of the problem.
• In a “health marketing” vein, Wegmans supermarkets will be selling a co-branded blood-glucose monitoring system made by Nipro Diagnostics

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