Supermarket & Grocery Industry News

ALEXANDRIA, Va. and DALLAS - The WorldWide Retail Exchange today announced the signing of a definitive agreement with The viaLink Company, the first of several preferred partners for data synchronization services. viaLink will provide advanced, commerce-level data synchronization services to WWRE members and their trading partners.

CINCINNATI - Chiquita Brands International Inc. today announced that it has reached agreements with bondholder committees in support of a restructuring plan that will reduce Chiquita's debt and accrued interest by more than $700 million and its future annual interest expense by about $60 million.

WASHINGTON - The Food Marketing Institute and The National Council of Chain Restaurants on Monday announced a collaboration on efforts to further develop and support industry policies and programs to strengthen animal welfare and food quality.

MINNEAPOLIS - International Multifoods Corp. today announced two additions to its senior management team: Dan C. Swander as president and chief operating officer, and Daryl Schaller, Ph.D., as vice president of research and development.

WASHINGTON - Changes are being made in U.S. slaughterhouses following accusations from the fast-food industry and animal rights groups.

DALLAS and Lawrenceville, N.J. - UCCnet today announced The viaLink Company has joined UCCnet's "Partners In Sync" program as a preferred alliance partner. The agreement is intended to accelerate the adoption of standards-based data synchronization for consumer package goods trading partners.

'You've got to push the envelope. The more you push, the more opportunities you'll find," says Jeff Noddle, president, CEO and COO of Supervalu. These days, Noddle, who took over the helm in June from long-time CEO Mike Wright, is pushing pretty hard, looking at opportunities outside Supervalu's traditional customer base —such as alternative formats, significant reductions in inventory, organic growth vs. acquisition, B2B initiatives, and a laundry list of other strategic issues.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Cees van der Hoeven, CEO of Royal Ahold, and Antony Burgmans, chairman of Unilever, have been chosen to take over as co-chairmen of the Global Commerce Initiative, a worldwide advisory group for the development of voluntary electronic transaction standards for business.