Ahold Delhaize

Gathering in aid of the needy is what it's all about for consultant Bill Kies and his grocery industry colleagues.

QUINCY, Mass. -- As part of Royal Ahold's global IT outsourcing initiative, Ahold USA, Inc. here is spending $65 million in a five-year agreement to outsource its in-store technology services at its Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover stores.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands -- Royal Ahold yesterday reported a third-quarter net income loss of US $281.6 million (239 million euros), including a US $689.4 million (585 million euros) after-tax charge related to the international retailer's $1.1 billion settlement earlier this week with its shareholders in the wake of a profits overstatement scandal at the company's U.S. Foodservice unit.

NEW YORK -- Robert Henuset, a sales manager at Yardley, Pa.-based Crowley Foods, LLC, yesterday pleaded guilty in federal court here to one count of conspiracy related to an alleged accounting scandal at Ahold-owned U.S. Foodservice, according to published reports. U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff presided over the hearing.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands - Royal Ahold NV, the world's fourth-largest food retail and foodservice group in sales and the parent company of Ahold USA, said today that it has come to an agreement with the lead plaintiffs to settle a securities class action, In re Royal Ahold N.V. Securities & ERISA Litigation, which was pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore.

QUINCY, Mass. and CHICAGO -- Stop & Shop and Internet grocer Peapod, LLC said yesterday that they have added two new distribution centers in New Jersey, which will kick off service to additional ZIP codes in the central part of the state Nov. 29.

SALISBURY, N.C. -- Food Lion donated $250,000 to Johns Hopkins Children's Center last week to help the medical program build an inpatient playroom on the oncology unit of a new children's hospital, slated for groundbreaking in early 2006.

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands -- In an effort to support its global strategic growth initiatives, Dutch grocer Royal Ahold entered a $500 million, 5-year agreement for a global information technology enterprise outsourcing solution.