| February 14, 2011 | News for the food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry |  |  |
- Starbucks wakes up to single-serve pods of coffee
Starbucks confirmed that it plans to introduce pods for single-serve coffee machines, a market whose share of fresh-coffee sales has grown from 2% in 2008 to 7% in 2010. A Starbucks spokeswoman said the coffee giant is in a "unique position because of our retail footprint" but that development is still early, and it is unclear whether Starbucks will make its machines or utilize a manufacturer. Chicago Tribune (2/12)        - Tapatio Foods marks 40 spicy years and is still going hot
Jose-Luis Saavedra started Tapatio Foods, originally Cuervo, in 1971 after his Mexican-style hot sauce became popular with co-workers at an aerospace company. At first, he made and bottled the sauce by hand and sold it on consignment. Forty years later, Saavedra leads a company with 20 employees, including his son and two daughters. Los Angeles Times (2/13) - P&G's Mr. Clean with Febreze finds 2 island flavors
Procter & Gamble added two scents, New Zealand Springs and Hawaiian Aloha, to its Mr. Clean with Febreze line of liquid and spray household cleaner. "We hope that the new exotic scents offer consumers a more enjoyable cleaning experience, while still providing the same powerful clean that consumers have always expected from Mr. Clean," said a brand manager. The Cincinnati Enquirer (2/11) - P&G welcomes back Whitman as director: Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, is returning to the Procter & Gamble board of directors, where she served from 2003 to 2008 before leaving to run for governor of California. American City Business Journals/Cincinnati (2/11)
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 - Tours connect CPG marketers with digital leaders
Michael Kassan, CEO of MediaLink, arranges tours in which 20 to 40 representatives of a company, including top executives, visit Google, Facebook, Twitter and other digital leaders in order to gain insights and form deals. "The catalyst for going was the broad recognition that we need to stay on the leading edge," said a Unilever executive who participated in May 2010 and described return on investment as "extraordinarily high." Brandweek (2/13)  | Making a big change starts with keeping a small promise.
Like us on Facebook to share your promise and view the promises of others. |
 - Valentine campaigns think outside the chocolate box
Mars Chocolate North America is marking Valentine's Day with a campaign starring M&M's character Red and custom messages. Elements of the campaign included digital and traditional media, plus a Twitter account. "What better way to celebrate love than to customize it?" said a spokeswoman for Mars. "Be mine," "You make me melt" and "I Love You," were among the most popular messages, she said. The New York Times (free registration) (2/13) - Social media contest leaves a good taste with chip maker
Tortilla chip maker Food Should Taste Good received 150,000 page views and 30,000 votes for its Touchdown Dance-Off social media contest. "We don't have the same advertising dollars as other chip companies, but we do have a loyal fan base," said CEO and founder Pete Lescoe. "We wanted a way to engage with them during a time when we knew they would be thinking about chips and snacking, so we invited all who wanted to get into the game to submit videos of their very own touchdown dances." MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily (2/12)  | The Five Traps of Performance Measurement
Too often senior executives leave measurement to the spreadsheet specialists. To take ownership of performance assessment, argues the author of this Harvard Business Review article, those executives must find qualitative, forward-looking measures that will help them avoid five common traps. Order here. |
 | Retail Spotlight |  | | | - Safeway debuts the all-natural Open Nature line
Safeway introduced a line called Open Nature, with more than 100 all-natural meat products, including beef, pork, chicken, bacon and beef hot dogs. The company plans to add other categories to the line this year, including bread, yogurt, salad dressing and frozen food. Progressive Grocer (2/11) | Hot Topics | | | | Top five news stories selected by GMA SmartBrief readers in the past week. - Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.
| | | Most Popular Headlines from Last Week Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers. |
| Science & Technology | | | | - USDA approves corn variety designed for ethanol production
The Department of Agriculture has approved for commercial cultivation a biotech corn developed by Syngenta for ethanol production. Syngenta's Enogen corn produces an alpha amylase to break down starch into sugar, eliminating the need for ethanol producers to purchase the enzyme. The USDA's announcement came amid concerns from corn millers and food makers that cross-pollination with Enogen will lower the quality and performance of other corn varieties. The New York Times (free registration) (2/11) | Health & Wellness | | | | - Flavonoids are linked to a lower Parkinson's risk
Flavonoids known as anthocyanins, found in berries and fruit and vegetables that are red or purplish, might protect against Parkinson's disease, researchers said. "If our observations are confirmed, it suggests that anthocyanins, or berries, could be a potential neuroprotective agent against Parkinson's disease risk," said the lead author of a study that followed 129,000 people for 22 years. HealthDay News (2/14) | GMA News | | | | - 3-day GMA workshop on food labeling
This comprehensive three-day workshop on food labeling rules will present the fundamentals for labeling of food and beverage products regulated by the FDA and meat and poultry products regulated by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.
GMA's staff experts in food labeling and nutrition will teach food company personnel and others involved in label design the food labeling skills they need, whether they are responsible for labeling compliance, food product marketing or product development.
Instruction, interaction and hands-on activities provide an intensive introduction to labeling rules or an intermediate refresher course. The material goes beyond the theoretical and uses actual labels and packages to explain and illustrate key points.
Space is limited for this popular workshop, which historically sells out. Register today to secure your seat!
| Government & Food Safety | | | | - Conference focuses on food safety law's whistleblower provision
The nonprofit Government Accountability Project held a conference to raise awareness about a provision in the Food Safety and Modernization Act that would provide protection to food industry employees who report wrongdoing or violations within their companies. "Whistleblowers are the informational lifeline to warn the public when government-approved food might be a public health hazard," said Tom Devine, the organization's legal director. Bloomberg Businessweek/The Associated Press (2/11)
| SmartQuote | | | |  | I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love."
--The Beatles,
British rock band,
quoted for Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2011  |
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