Market Trends

Kraft Foods’ U.S. Snacks business has teamed up with the NCAA and CBS Sports as an Official NCAA Corporate Partner, in an agreement covering several of the CPG powerhouse’s brands, among them Planters, Ritz, Oreo and Wheat Thins. The partnership encompasses promotional and marketing rights for the NCAA and all 88 of its men’s and women’s championships.

Spring arrives this month, and with it a bountiful new crop of center store opportunities. Among the occasion-based initiatives on tap are Hershey’s Easter product lineup, which includes some exciting new items; McCormick’s virtual workshop offering inventive ways for consumers to enliven their holiday celebrations; and Kraft’s big new partnership with NCAA and CBS Sports, which will begin rolling out a range of marketing initiatives during March Madness.

Multi-format retailer Giant Eagle is celebrating its first-ever Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for its GetGo convenience store and fuel station located at 140 Towne Center Drive in Wexford, Pa.

Battered by the nation’s troubled economy, consumers are tightening their spending habits when it comes to many food purchases, and while shoppers are seeking the best value and are more disciplined in their buying decisions, snack food products continue to do well.

In a finding that CPG companies — and the grocers that sell their products — will no doubt cheer, the 14th annual Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index (CLEI), conducted by New York-based brand and customer loyalty and engagement consultancy Brand Keys, has determined that the “Decade of the Brand” is now upon us.

In light of the grocery store’s dual role as one of the most visited destinations in American life and its unique position to help impart trusted, sound nutritional information and education, Roundy Supermarkets’ Pick ’n Save, Copps and Rainbow banners have joined forces with Chicago-based Field Trip Factory to invite area classrooms to take part in its “Be a Smart Shopper!” program.

Eight out of 10 U.S. households eat dinner at home, according to The NPD Group, a market research company based in Port Washington, N.Y.

Hannaford Brothers has received the Gold Award from the Information Integrity Coalition (IIC), a Naperville, Ill.-based not-for-profit organization promoting information integrity, or accuracy, consistency and reliability of information content, and associated processes, systems and environment, for the grocer’s Systems Enhancement for Global Access (SEGA) program.