| March 29, 2012 | News for the food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry |  |  |
- LYFE Kitchen expands with Costco presence
LYFE Kitchen, which opened its first restaurant in October in Palo Alto, Calif., is expanding to retail shelves. The company, which focuses on low-calorie, low-sodium food that uses organic and local ingredients, introduced six products at Northern California Costco Wholesale stores, including soup, Thai coconut curry, chicken masala and chimichurri beef. Nation's Restaurant News (free registration) (3/28)       - StarKist CEO's plans include global expansion and a marketing boost
President and CEO of StarKist In-Soo Cho, who joined the company last year, has big plans to expand the tuna brand into the global market and amp up the presence of mascot Charlie the Tuna in future advertisements. StarKist owner Dongwon Group recently acquired a tuna canning facility in Senegal, allowing the South Korean company to expand into African and European markets. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (3/29) - Anheuser-Busch InBev plans 19 launches
Anheuser-Busch InBev is planning to launch 19 products in the U.S. this year, including cider, small-batch beers and malt beverages. Luiz Edmond, president of North American operations for the brewer, also plans to increase the alcohol content in the brand's light beer and use Clydesdale horses in more ads. The Wall Street Journal (3/28)  | 2012 SWEETS & SNACKS EXPO® — May 8-10 in Chicago
Explore 550+ confectionery, cookie and snack companies exhibiting thousands of innovative, new products. Nearly 15,000 qualified professionals, from 70 countries, attend each year. Beyond the show floor, the EXPO provides tools to help you discover innovation, learn new trends & connect with peers. Learn more or Register. | | Trends |  |  | | - Another heady year for craft beer
 Craft breweries grew their retail sales 15% last year, even as the overall U.S. beer industry slowed, according to the Brewers Association. Unlike an earlier boom in the 1990s, consumers this time around have grown more sophisticated and willing to search out micro-brews, which makes higher-priced, higher-margin small-batch beers good business for retailers, says director Paul Gatza. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Food & Beverage (3/29)  - Report: Supply chains benefit from information sharing
In a report by SCM World, 49.1% of buyers and 40.8% of sellers believe information-sharing benefits supply chain efficiency. "It is vital we have those windows to ensure transparency so we can effectively share information and data around sales and operations planning, supply demand and so forth," said Gerry Fay, chief global logistics and operations officer at Avnet, a maker of electrical components. Supply Management online (U.K.) (3/28) - PepsiCo expands U.K. warehouse, trims delivery miles
PepsiCo expects to cut its U.K. delivery miles by about 400,000 a year with the expansion of a warehouse and distribution center in Peterlee. The larger facility will allow for more delivery vehicles to be kept on-site. Improvements to the facility include green features such as a rainwater vehicle-wash and more energy-efficient lighting. FoodManufacture.co.uk (U.K.) (3/27)  | Learn how Oka b. stays a step ahead with eCommerce solutions from Amazon
In this case study you’ll learn about eCommerce solutions from Amazon that have driven business results for Oka b. — a U.S. manufacturer of casual footwear — and helped them achieve greater business success. Download the case study. |
 - PepsiCo: Yes to Minaj, no to new drink
PepsiCo said it is working with pop star Nicki Minaj, but denied previous reports that she will be the face of a new drink called Pop. A spokesperson said there are no plans for a new beverage. Reuters (3/28)  | Retail Spotlight | | | | - Food Lion gives away groceries to mark strategic change
Food Lion stores in Danville, Va., were to give away 200 bags filled with groceries to call attention to changes within the chain. Based on customer surveys, the Delhaize America-owned retailer is lowering prices, making aisles less cluttered and changing the brands of more than 600 private-label products to Home 360, my essentials, Healthy Accents, Nature's Place, Taste of Inspirations and Butcher's Brand. Danville Register & Bee (Va.) (3/27)
| Health & Wellness | | | | - U.S. consumers have better fat-content awareness
A study of more than 300 consumers revealed that Americans appear to be more knowledgeable about dietary fats and nutritional recommendations on fats compared with their French and Canadian counterparts. The findings indicate that, with the high obesity rates in the U.S., providing nutritional information may not be as effective as previously thought in promoting healthy eating habits, researchers reported in the British Food Journal. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.)/HealthCheck blog (3/28) | GMA News | | | | - Do you know the model practices for consumer complaint management?
For more than 10 years, the GMA Consumer Complaints Management Conference has been providing consumer affairs and complaint management specialists with the roadmap for effective complaint management. Once again, on May 14-16 in Dallas, GMA welcomes you to attend this year's conference to gain the right tools for dealing with complaints, innovative strategies for brand management, and valuable industry contacts, all tailored to the food and beverage industry. Key takeaways from the conference include: - Model practices for complaint management
- Crisis management insights
- Enhanced knowledge of today's consumer and their expectations for consumer product makers
- Perspectives from key regulatory agencies
- Deeper understanding of the role complaint management plays in brand management
- Motivation from peers who have faced and overcome consumer affairs challenges
Visit www.gmacomplaintsconference.com for more information or to register today!
| Government & Food Safety | | | | - Government leaders defend lean finely textured beef
Lean finely textured beef, also known as "pink slime," has been vilified, but officials including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have come to its defense. "You effectively need to kill 1.5 million more head of cattle in a year to replace the meat that would go off the market from this unwarranted, unmerited food scare," Branstad said. The Wall Street Journal (3/28)
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