Trading Partners

The National Pasta Association (NPA) and the International Pasta Organization (IPO) are gearing up for “World Pasta Day 2009,” an Oct. 26 conference at which pasta manufacturers from around the world will present the latest nutritional and scientific research on pasta to the industry at large.

Whole Foods Market and Chef Ann Cooper, America’s “Renegade Lunch Lady,” have teamed up to remake school lunches with the “School Lunch Revolution” campaign.

Perfect for the health-conscious shopper, Pomegranate Splash! Reduction Sauces are brewed using a “microblend” process, in which a wine-and-natural-fruit combination maximizes overall health benefits.

Consumers will find many uses for Smith’s Chili Con Queso dip from Smith Dairy Products Co., an Orrville, Ohio-based regional manufacturer of dairy products, beverages and ice cream.

The recession has prompted consumers around the world to re-evaluate what’s important to them. Issues such as the economy, job security and other topics related to finances are top of mind for most people and, as a result, issues such as the environment have fallen.

They may not always eat what’s good for them, but children are aware of what they should be eating.

Smart Floss® is debuting a biodegradable dispenser, a move the product’s manufacturer, Honolulu-based Dr. Tung’s Products, thinks will be good for sales as well as the earth. “Until now, if someone tosses their empty floss dispenser into the garbage, it takes up to 100 years to degrade,” said Dr. Tung’s CEO Colin Davis. “Using leading-edge technology, our new containers turn into food for microbes -- they become biomass within only one to five years … [N]ow [the item] is better both for [consumers] and for the environment.”

The Kentucky Grocers Association inducted Bill Remke, president and CEO of Remke Markets, Inc., into its Hall of Fame July 23 for his lifetime contribution to the state’s grocery industry.