Trading Partners

The vast majority of U.S. households — 9 out of 10 — will root for their preferred Super Bowl team in their own homes or those of friends or relatives, rather than at a restaurant or bar, a survey by The Nielsen Company has found.

The economic slump took its toll on U.S. food and drink manufacturers in 2009, according to a recent review of Mintel’s Global New Product Database (GNPD). Food and drink product launches showed a substantial decline of nearly 30 percent from 2008.

Independent retailer-owned wholesaler Associated Food Stores, Inc. and Premier Retail Networks, Inc. (PRN), a San Francisco-based provider of digital out-of-home media solutions, have signed a multiyear agreement to continue the operation of PRN’s Checkout TV Network in Associated Food’s newly acquired Fresh Market stores.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) this week hosted the first-ever joint Supply Chain Conference under the banner of the GMA-FMI Trading Partner Alliance.

Annual coupon use is rising for the first time since 1992, according to process improvement company Inmar, and coupon distribution has reached the highest level recorded since the company began tracking trends in 1988.

Promoting safe foods in foodservice is both good global citizenship and good business, and two groups — one a nonprofit and one a distributor — are doing their part to ensure the foodservice products that reach the American consumer are the safest possible.

Manufacturers of foodservice supplies have stayed abreast of the industry’s overwhelming themes of value, cost savings and sustainability with the introduction of new products and line extensions that fulfill those mandates.

Results of a recently released report from the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) are urging twice the use of fresh produce in foodservice, for more fruitful returns.