News Briefs

Protein processor West Liberty Foods has revealed its intention to close its Mount Pleasant, Iowa, facility, effective May 7, 2023. The plant closing will affect about 350 team employees.

“Respect and care for people is a core value of our company, and shutting down a plant is a tough thing to do,” said Brandon Achen, president and CEO of West Liberty Foods, which is based in West Liberty, Iowa. “Although we are taking steps to lessen the impact on our team members, we will be eliminating the jobs of some exceptional people through no fault of their own. I want each of them to know that we value their contributions and deeply regret the need for this action.”

[Read more: "Sausage and Ham Brands Innovate Pork Category"]

The company aims to help affected workers through such efforts as offers to work at one of the company’s other plants, relocation and transportation services, stay bonuses, severance pay, re-employment services, and assistance with filing unemployment claims.

The Mount Pleasant facility opened in 2003 with its patented Clean Room Food Processing Systems, making it the first food-manufacturing facility in the nation to feature this technology. Since its opening, the facility has produced hundreds of millions of pounds of sliced deli meats for a range of customers in the foodservice and retail segments. A recent shift in the types of products and capabilities needed to support customers has resulted in a dramatic reduction in pre-sliced deli meats, however, necessitating the plant’s closure.

The shutdown will occur in two phases: The first round of reductions will occur on Dec. 31, 2022, with all operations ceasing in May of next year. The company plans to move and consolidate existing operations from the Mount Pleasant facility to remaining facilities in Iowa, Illinois and Utah.

Starting in mid-November, Target Corp. is teaming up with Marks & Spencer to offer a curated assortment of the renowned U.K. retailer’s most popular food and beverage products to Target customers for the first time ever. The limited-time partnership offers highly giftable, on-trend products at value prices. 

Suitable for holiday gift giving and entertaining, the seasonal assortment will consist of 15 food and beverage items, spanning luxury caramels and chocolates to biscuits and teas, sold in interactive packaging. Highlights of the collection include Santa’s Magical Light Up Chocolate Workshop (pictured), Shortbread Biscuit Light-Up Lantern, Gingerbread Musical House Tin, Shortbread Biscuit Bus Tin. Prices begin at $9.99, with the majority of M&S products priced below $14.99. 

The assortment will be available through the 2022 holiday season at most Target stores, on Target.com and through the company’s same-day services: Drive Up, Pick Up and Same-Day Delivery with Shipt. 

“One of the things that differentiates Target is the way we make style affordable and accessible for all, and this partnership is the latest example of us building on that legacy in food and beverage," noted Rick Gomez, Target’s EVP and chief food and beverage officer. “By joining forces with an iconic brand like Marks & Spencer, we’re bringing our guests amazing products and giving them another reason to turn to Target for the moments of joy that make the holidays special.” 

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is No. 6 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, with nearly 2,000 locations.

It will be a happy new year for Wegmans fans in Virginia, as the grocer announced that its Reston location will officially welcome shoppers on Feb. 1. Located at the intersection of Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive in a mixed-use development, the 85,000-square-foot store will carry a wide range of products and include an in-store coffee shop, Market Café and Burger Bar offering burgers, sandwiches, salads, milkshakes and other menu items. This is Wegmans 15th store in the commonwealth of Virginia.

The retailer is gearing up for the early 2023 opening with a major hiring event on Nov. 8 at The Edmund apartments above the site of the Reston store. More than 200 positions are open, and potential Wegmans team members can apply online before the event.

“While our opening is still a few months away, we have already met many great applicants and are excited to continue building our team,” said Reston Store Manager Katie Sullivan. “Wegmans is known for being one of the best places to work because we offer opportunities for advancement, flexible scheduling, and competitive pay and benefits packages.”

As it prepares to staff the Reston store, Wegmans is also hiring for at least 585 full- and part-time positions for its locations in Virginia and Washington, D.C. A virtual hiring event is slated for Nov. 1 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Ahead of the hiring blitz, Wegmans is touting its competitive salary and benefits, in addition to sign-on bonuses and an employee scholarship program. The retailer also pointed out it promotes from within and will be seeking to fill roles at other upcoming new stores in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, New York City, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Family-owned Wegmans operates more than 100 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts. The Rochester, N.Y.-based company is No. 34 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. 

An H-E-B store will be part of a new master planned community northwest of Houston. According to real estate owner and developer the Howard Hughes Corp., the grocery store will anchor the Village Green at Bridgeland Central in Bridgeland, within the city of Cypress, Texas.

H-E-B will serve the nearly 70,000 future residents of the Bridgeland community, along with those who live in the greater northwest Houston area. The 100,000-square-foot store will include H-E-B’s typical offerings and also feature a pharmacy, fuel station and curbside pickup and delivery services.

[Read more: "H-E-B to Open Location in Fort Worth"]

"Our Houston region remains a priority for H-E-B, and we continue to make significant investments expanding our footprint to serve all of our neighbors," said Armando Perez, EVP, H-E-B Houston. "We are excited to bring a store to the Bridgeland community to meet the needs of this growing area."

The H-E-B in Bridgeland will be built next year and is expected to open in 2024. Several H-E-B stores are under construction right now in Texas, including at least four stores in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex.

The largest privately held employer in Texas, San Antonio-based H-E-B has more than 420 stores and 145,000 employees in Texas and Mexico. The company is No. 16 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Walmart has joined the U.S. Plastics Pact at GreenBiz’s VERGE 2022 conference, held Oct. 25-17 in San Jose, Calif., to reveal the inaugural slate of Sustainable Packaging Innovations Award winners. The retailer donated the use of its recently launched Circular Connector platform to help capture innovations for the awards. The honorees cover four categories – recycling, reuse, composting and reduction – with each winner spotlighting scalability, low-cost efficiencies or a customer-first proposal.

The winners are Smile Compostable Solutions, for Compostability; Amcor, for Recyclability; The Clorox Co., for Refill; and Deliver Zero. for Reuse.

In phase one of the Circular Connector launch this past April, innovators could submit their solutions for Walmart’s consideration. “Solutions are screened against Walmart’s Sustainable Packaging goals, and those that are aligned featured in the Connector,” noted Ashley C. Hall, director, strategic programs at Walmart, in a recent blog post. “Last week, we made the Circulate Connector available for free to everyone via Walmart’s Sustainability Hub. And now, nearly 150 solutions are publicly available on the Circular Connector.” 

Added Hall: “Our hope with making Circular Connector open source is that it propels companies to move faster to make design changes that will help create a circular economy for plastics, even our direct competitors. Sustainable packaging changes can’t happen in a silo and require lifecycle thinking. Today, we still have packages that can cause confusion for customers.”

Each week, approximately 230 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company employs approximately 2.3 million associates worldwide. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.

Faster grocery delivery is coming to The Save Mart Cos. thanks to a new partnership with Amazon. Two-hour delivery is now available through two Save Mart stores in California’s Central Valley, with more stores to be added in the near future.

Customers can order Save Mart grocery delivery through the Amazon app or at amazon.com/savemart, starting at $4.99 for Amazon Prime members. The retailers are celebrating the partnership with a limited-time special offer of 15% off orders over $50 for first-time customers. 

“The Amazon partnership represents The Save Mart Cos.’ ongoing digital transformation to serve our shoppers and fulfill their needs with innovative and affordable solutions,” said Tamara Pattison, SVP, chief digital officer, Save Mart.

Continued Pattison: “We are proud of Save Mart’s reputation of exceptional quality fresh and local produce and meat and seafood all at low prices the shopper needs more than ever. We are committed to enhancing the personalization of our customers’ shopping experience across all of our stores including Lucky and FoodMaxx.”

Based in Modesto, Calif., The Save Mart Cos. operates more than 200 retail stores under the banners of Save Mart, Lucky California and FoodMaxx. In addition to its retail operation, the company also operates SMART Refrigerated Transport and is a partner in Super Store Industries, which owns and operates a distribution center in Lathrop, Calif., and the Sunnyside Farms dairy-processing plant in Turlock, Calif. Save Mart is No. 55 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on The PG 100.