Frozen Foods

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will stop selling fresh seafood in its Florida superstores, a move the retailer says has no connection to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Sustainable seafood sourcing is moving to the forefront for a variety of supermarket companies, including The Kroger Co., which has made the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification for farmed seafood a key element of its seafood procurement policy, and Delhaize America, whose seven banner groups will soon require suppliers to verify that products come from sources managed for sustainability and encourage local sourcing.

As a way to reinforce its identification with more nutritious eating and respect for the earth, Kashi Co. has introduced two initiatives: Natural Nearby, a Web search tool providing instant access to natural goods and services, available at www.kashi.com; and the online Kashi Yearbook, which details the brand’s 25-year history and future goals.

All of the divisions of Delhaize America — Hannaford, Sweetbay, Bottom Dollar Food, and Food Lion’s family of banners, consisting Food Lion, Bloom, Harveys and Reid’s — are adopting a new seafood program that will require suppliers to verify that products come from sources managed for sustainability and encourage sourcing locally.

Grocery wholesaler The Grocers Supply Co., Inc., has become a member of Skokie, Ill.-based Topco Associates, LLC, and will participate in its dairy/bakery, grocery, health and beauty care, general merchandise, pharmacy, processed meat, produce/floral, fresh meat, and not-for-resale programs.

It’s not just Americans who are showing more interest in private label these days. According to a recent public opinion survey conducted by Harris/Decima for Canadian food retailer Sobeys, Inc., over 80 percent of grocery shoppers north of the border said they buy private label brands such as the grocer’s Compliments product line.

After years of negotiations with several supermarket organizations, community leaders of Pittsburgh’s Hill District are at long last applauding the pending arrival of a new 30,000-square-foot grocery store that represents the neighborhood’s first full-service grocery store since the 1980s.

The Chiquita Frozen Fruit Smoothies brand is inviting consumers to enter its Summer Fruit Fun Smoothie contest on Twitter for the chance to win a backyard patio makeover.