Perimeter

From Barbie dog clothes to pet nutritionists, consumers are willing to spend for their pets' well being. Here's how to indulge critters and their owners in 2006.

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

BOULDER, Colo. -- IZZE Beverage Company, a brand in the emerging sparkling juice category, tapped SoBe founder and former c.e.o. John Bello as a member of the company's board of directors. Bello is also a partner with Sherbrooke Capital, the venture capital group that led the $6.35 million equity-financing round for IZZE this past January.

LONDON -- It's not just U.S. supermarkets that are being affected by growing waistlines and consumers' desires to eat healthier. Sales of popular brands of traditional snack foods and sweets in Britain are suffering from a slump, according to a new study by The Grocer, a British trade publication, based on ACNielsen sales data.

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. -- Note to grocers courting Hispanics: Try to gauge how long your target market's been absorbing American culture. As they acculturate, Hispanics living in the United States develop progressively more Americanized eating habits, a study by the NPD Group here found.

SALISBURY, N.C. -- In a move to add more high-quality, convenient items to its product mix, Food Lion here has begun offering Bertagni fresh filled pastas from Italy in more than 400 of its stores, via an exclusive partnership with Sterling Foods, Inc.

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Leaders from the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) here are hailing a new report released this week by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM), which claimed food and beverage marketing aimed at kids points them to high-calorie, low-nutrient products.

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.