Center Store

SINGAPORE - A SARS outbreak caused the closing of Singapore's largest wholesale vegetable market this week, and a quarantine of all of its 2,400 workers.

CHICAGO & QUINCY, Mass. - Leading Internet grocer Peapod Inc. and New England grocer Stop & Shop today announced the expansion of their online service to the Hartford, Conn., metropolitan area.

NEW YORK - Grocery distributor Fleming Cos. Inc. said on Tuesday that the bankruptcy court has conditionally approved $150 million in financing the company needs to reorganize.

DALLAS - 7-Eleven, Inc., the nation's largest c-store chain, today reported that its first quarter core earnings, which exclude non-operating items, grew to $4.6 million or $0.04 per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, 2003, versus $2.4 million or $0.02 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2002.

CHICAGO - The bankruptcy of grocery distributor Fleming Cos. Inc. is having a ripple effect on its food suppliers as companies ranging from Kraft Foods Inc. to Hershey Foods feel the pinch, according to a recent report by Reuters.

LONDON - Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever is said to be looking to sell several popular toothpaste brands and other businesses worth a total of $300 million to $400 million, industry sources said on Monday.

MONTREAL - More than 686 exhibitors from 37 countries presented their products to 13,345 professionals in the food industry at SIAL Montreal 2003, the second North American edition of the International Food, Beverage, Wine and Spirits Exhibition held April 2-4.

WASHINGTON, DC - Officials of the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association and the Food Marketing Institute have announced that they will co-locate their annual trade shows at McCormick Place in Chicago, beginning in May 2004.