Pharmacy

A solid connection to health, as well as an increased emphasis on specialty fruit, should help citrus turn in a strong peak season.

NEW YORK -- Although organic and functional foods have generated a healthy amount of interest in the United States in recent years, these categories still have a lot of room to grow -- especially when compared to other markets around the globe. That's the conclusion of global consumer and marketplace information provider ACNielsen, which released results from a new global online survey yesterday.

It's hard to imagine a grocer that knows its home state better, or that tries harder to treat everyone like family.

New focuses on convenience, health, and self-indulgence will help drive dairy department sales.

NAPLES, N.Y. -- This was a year of transition for many packaged goods marketers, paving the way for an extremely active year for new products in 2006, according to global business information provider Datamonitor. New packaged goods rollouts in the United States are up 6.5 percent from last year, though Oct. 31, 2005, as the end of low-carbmania has allowed other health-and-wellness-related trends to take hold.

Exclusive-brand programs in fresh categories are paying off for retailers that have a clear, premium point of difference -- but they've got to hit the mark.

Retailers are likely to bag extra dollars like fallen leaves, if they capitalize on an especially rich harvest of timely fall promotions this season.

WASHINGTON -- At a press conference here yesterday, public interest organizations Shape Up America and the National Consumers League demanded that the federal government act immediately to mandate the same standardized labeling information on beer, wine, and distilled spirits that currently appears on packaging for foods, beverages, and over-the-counter drugs.