Supermarket & Grocery Industry News

WASHINGTON -- The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) here yesterday presented new guidelines for blocking the distribution of counterfeit goods, to Chris Israel, the international intellectual property coordinator at U.S. Department of Commerce, during the National Chamber Foundation's Anti-Counterfeiting & Piracy Summit.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--ACNielsen U.S. yesterday rolled out Promotion Tracker, which offers the CPG industry the first-ever census-based reporting on the status of in-store displays.

WASHINGTON -- The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has announced the speakers for its inaugural Conference on the Future of Food, which will focus on the intersection between nutrition, international trade, regulations, and innovation in the food industry. The conference will take place in Washington, D.C., Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. One of the featured speakers is Norman Rich, president of Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets.

BOISE, Idaho -- Albertson's Inc. yesterday received an America's Marketplace Recycles! Award from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

TAMPA, Fla. -- Kash n' Karry Food Stores here replaced all the ground beef in its Kash n' Karry and Sweetbay Supermarkets late last week, after one of its meat suppliers, Thomasville, Ga.-based American Fresh Foods, Inc., issued a voluntary recall based on possible E. coli contamination.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Spartan Stores, the nation's tenth-largest grocer here, has gone live on One Network's appointment scheduling solution, joining such other retailers as Kroger, Safeway, Food Lion, and Hannaford Bros.

CARLISLE, Penn. -- Giant Carlisle, an Ahold-owned grocery chain with 250 customer-driven supermarkets under the Giant Food Stores, Top Markets, and Martin's Food Market names in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, plans to deploy consumer demand management software chain-wide to enhance its merchandising capabilities.

WILTON, Conn. -- Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble topped the "best of the best" in the industry for collaborating with trading partners to best meet consumers' needs, and bolster their own performance, said consultancy Cannondale Associates here, which on Firday released it 2005 PoweRanking Survey.