Have you ever thought that what you see is sometimes different from what you are really seeing?
The famous Arcimboldo's "Vegetables In A Bowl Or The Gardener" painting is a clear example ....
Customer Growth Partners (CGP) said it expected pent-up demand and deleveraged shoppers to defy many forecasts and spend heavily during the holiday season.CGP said it expected sales during November and December to grow by 6.5% as compared to last year - the most rapid such growth since 2004 - and more than twice consensus forecasts calling for growth of 2% to 3.5%. The figures include all retail categories except for autos, gasoline and restaurants and was based on proprietary store and retailer research and U.S. data on personal income, employment, savings rate and retail sales.Source: Supermarket News
Apple, Hershey’s, and surprisingly, Sprite (not Coke or Pepsi) are three of the top brands for youth, according to the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend study, by Harris Interactive.The annual study benchmarks the brands that America's youth prefer and those that have the ability to dominate their industries' youth market share. The study measures brand equity as an outcome of familiarity, quality, and purchase consideration among Americans ages 8 to 24. Equity, emotional connection, and brand advocacy are evaluated.Young Americans are expected to spend $211 billion in 2012, according to Harris Interactive. Companies need to remember that consumers do not magically appear at age 18, said Regina A. Corso, senior vice president for youth and education research at Harris Interactive.In the food category, although 8- to-24-year-olds have varied interests, certain comfort foods, like cookies and candy are timeless. For example: Oreo Cookies and Hershey's Milk Chocolate Candy Bars are each highest-ranked in their respective categories, and sweet treat and cookie brands receive some of the highest equity scores among those surveyed.Following Hershey's Milk Chocolate Candy Bars in the sweet treats category are Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey's Kisses. Oreo Cookies is the highest-ranked cookies brand, followed by three Chips Ahoy cookies brands (Chips Ahoy, Chewy Chips Ahoy and Chunky Chips Ahoy.) For the soda brand, Sprite is the highest-ranked brand, followed by Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola.Cheerios is the highest-ranked cereal brand, followed by Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Minute Maid is the highest-ranked fruit juice brand, followed by Tropicana and Florida's Natural Refrigerated Orange Juice. In fruit-flavored drinks, Capri Sun is the highest-ranked brand, followed by KoolAid.
As part of a series of moves aimed at seafood sustainability, Kroger Co. here announced it is committed to sourcing 100% of the top 20 wild-caught species from fisheries that are Marine Stewardship Council-certified, in MSC full assessment, or engaged in a World Wildlife Fund fishery improvement project by the year 2015.Today, 65% of Kroger's top 20 wild-caught fresh and frozen species are sourced from fisheries meeting these standards, the company said.In addition, Kroger has set a goal to source 75% of the top 20 species by volume from MSC-certified fisheries by 2015. At present, approximately 50% of Kroger's top 20 species by volume are sourced from MSC-certified fisheries.Source: Supermarket News
Pleasanton, California-based Safeway Stores, Inc. is this week launching its newest own brand - "Safeway Farms" - which it's debuting on a line of packaged fresh produce items and salads.With the addition of Safeway Farms to its store brand portfolio, Safeway Stores, Inc. now offers three private brands in its fresh produce departments. In addition to the new brand, the others include - O' Organics (for organic packaged produce) and Eating Right, which is the retailer's healthy foods brand.
Source: Fresh & Easy Buzz
In a move that could have a major impact on the recycling industry, California Attorney General Kamala Harris will sue three national companies that make plastic bottles or sell bottled water in California, contending that they illegally claim their bottles are "biodegradable."The lawsuit to be filed Wednesday, seeks to have tens of thousands of bottles of Aquamantra and Balance Water removed from supermarket shelves immediately. It asserts that the bottles used by those brands do not actually decompose naturally and that they contaminate other types of recycled plastic. Further, the suit states that their green-sounding labels could lead to increased littering if consumers believe that tossed bottles will decompose like apple cores or banana peels.
Ahold-owned Stop & Shop in the US has announced it is to expand the SCAN IT! mobile app to a further 42 stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
The application is currently available in 350 outlets and allows shoppers to scan and tally their groceries while providing personalized offers to customers based on their location in store and purchase history.
The US Department of Agriculture predicted that food prices will increase 3.5-4.5% this year, up from a September estimate of between 3% and 4% for the year.A USDA statement said: "Although food price inflation was relatively weak for most of 2009 and 2010, cost pressures on wholesale and retail food prices due to higher food commodity and energy prices, along with strengthening global food demand, have pushed inflation projections upward for 2011."The figures are a steep rise on last year. Food prices increased 0.8% between 2009 and 2010, the lowest food inflation rate since 1962.All food increased 0.4% from August to September 2011, increased 0.5% from July to August, and is now 4.7% above the September 2010 level, according to the figures.
House and Senate members yesterday announced the introduction of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Opportunity Act of 2011 [H.R. 3236], a comprehensive bill intended for inclusion in the 2012 Farm Bill that highlights federal programs that help support economic opportunities for young and beginning farmers and ranchers.
The bill addresses many of the barriers that new agriculture entrepreneurs face, such as limited access to land and markets, hyper land price inflation, high input costs, and a lack of sufficient support networks.
A U.S. House of Representatives committee has requested documents from the Colorado cantaloupe shipper implicated in the deadly listeria outbreak even as the number of deaths rose to 28, and it wants to hear from the company’s owners.
US-based fast food chain McDonald’s is set to launch McTV, an in store television channel featuring content targeted at the local community, in California.
Programming will be customized and include various segments covering local sports, news and movie previews. Specific segments will include 'Mighty Moms', which will feature local mothers in the area, and 'McDonald's Channel Music News' reporting on bands, tours and new releases. Around eight minutes every hour will be filled with advertising, taking advantage of a reach of up to 20 million people a month. The service will be rolled out to restaurants in the southern and central California area in partnership with ChannelPort Communications, having already tested the concept in cities including Los Angeles and San Diego.
Customer Growth Partners (CGP) said it expected pent-up demand and deleveraged shoppers to defy many forecasts and spend heavily during the holiday season.
