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PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The on-again, off-again sale of Kings Super Markets may be on again, as turmoil hits British owner Marks & Spencer, according to a report in the Newark Star-Ledger newspaper.

ST. LOUIS - Deal$-Nothing Over A Dollar is expanding its grocery selection at 21 of its area stores, according to a report in the St. Louis Business Journal.

WASHINGTON - Food retailers and wholesalers across the United States are requesting that Congress replace what they call a costly and unworkable mandatory country-of-origin labeling law with a voluntary program proposed in bipartisan legislation introduced today by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Ranking Member Charles Stenholm, D-Texas.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. - Joseph A. Pichler, who will retire later this month as chairman of The Kroger Co., was the recipient of the 2004 Hall of Achievement Award by the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA).

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. - The CPG industry's financial performance in 2003 continued to rebound as median net sales rose nearly two percentage points to 6.5 percent from 4.6 percent in 2002, and returns on sales and assets continued to climb for most companies, according to a study released during GMA's Executive Conference here.

CHICAGO - Kraft Foods, Inc. said yesterday it has reached a deal to use the South Beach diet's trademark to appeal to carb-conscious dieters, according to Reuters.

WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Shaw's Supermarkets Inc. plans to eliminate about 307 jobs at some of its stores, according to local reports. The news comes just months after the Shaw's and Star Market chains were acquired by Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons.

CHICAGO - IGA announced today it has become a member of Topco Associates LLC, the Skokie, Ill.-based cooperative that supplies procurement, quality assurance, packaging, and other services exclusively for its member-owners, which include supermarket retailers, wholesalers, and foodservice companies.