Nonfoods

SAN ANTONIO, Texas --As fall approaches, ushering in a major selling season for supermarkets, The Gambrinus Company here is kicking off "Touchdown Tiki 2005" to support Corona Extra and Corona Light, which it claims are the number one and number three import beers respectively. The promotion will run Aug. 15 -- Oct. 31.

Indianapolis -- Marsh Supermarkets is in the final stages of preparing to open its first location in Illinois on Aug. 22 with a new 66,000-square-foot Lifestyle format store in Naperville, a community that was recently ranked third on Money Magazine's list of the top, "100 Best Places to Live" for 2005.

NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Vitasti, Inc., based here, a food company specializing in the health-and-wellness sector, has developed a new line of vitamin-rich granola with an antioxidant supplement and a hip new featured ingredient -- the acai berry. Harvested in the Brazilian rainforest and touted by the media as "nature's perfect food," the acai (pronounced "AH-sci-EE") has been used for thousands of years by Brazil's indigenous peoples, who attribute various healing and nutritional properties to the fruit.

NATICK, Mass. -- BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. yesterday reported that sales for July grew 9.3 percent to $582.3 million from $532.6 million in the year-ago period, with grocery categories playing a significant roles in the gains.

IRWINDALE, Calif. -- Ready Pac here said it has secured financing to upgrade and expand production capacity across its manufacturing network in the United States.

NEW YORK -- Gristedes Supermarkets here continues to broaden its national e-commerce presence, most recently with Cubans--sandwiches, that is, in partnership with Freeport, N.Y.-based Roadhouse Foods.

EMERYVILLE, Calif.-- Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. here owes much of its robust sales growth to the supermarket sector, which is proving to be a lucrative venue for its branded premium coffee and tea sales, said the company yesterday.

RUTLAND, Vt. -- Vermont's biggest food show, the 71st annual Vermont Grocers exposition, hosted by the Vermont Grocers' Association (VGA), will take place Friday, Sept. 16 to Sunday, Sept. 18 at the Wyndham Burlington Hotel in Burlington, Vt. and the Robert E. Miller Exposition Center in Essex Junction, Vt.