Market Trends

The new Publix store opening May 1 in Plantation, Fla., is first in south Florida to combine a conventional grocery store with the best features of the chain’s GreenWise Market format.

Consumer brands across the country can now enter items to be considered for the 2011 Product of the Year (POY) USA Awards, marking the third go-round for the annual program, which also includes the nation’s largest consumer survey on product innovation, conducted once again by New York-based custom research agency TNS.

As baseball season begins, Wholly is sharing the excitement of America’s pastime by stepping up to the plate as the “Official Guacamole, Salsa and Queso partner” of the storied New York Yankees.

In a further implementation of its succession plan, Schenectady N.Y.-based Golub Corp./Price Chopper has made seven senior management-level promotions.

Weis Markets continues to refine its senior management staff with the recent appointments of Regina Tator and Greg Oldright as its new directors of center store sales, and Bruno Garisto as its new director of private brands.

At a time when food manufacturers, health organizations and the government are working to help Americans cut down the amount of sodium they consume.

Catalina Marketing, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based provider of precision marketing and shopper-driven media, has released the consumer packaged goods industry’s first brand and store-level mobile couponing performance data — and the results indicate a clear benefit for grocers.

Peter Larkin, former president and CEO of the California Grocers Association (CGA), will become president and CEO of the National Grocers Association (NGA), Chris Coborn, president and CEO of Coborn’s, Inc. and the Arlington, Va.-based trade group’s chairman of the board. Larkin succeeds Tom Zaucha, who will retire June 30.