Deli / Prepared Foods

Recognizing recession-weary consumers are buying more shelf-stable products, Del Monte, General Mills, Kraft and others are focusing their marketing and R&D efforts on the formerly unsexy center of the supermarket.

To get adults to consume more vegetables daily, V8 brought out V8 V-Fusion, a line of 100 percent juices employing the sweeter taste of fruit along with the veggies. Now, V8 V-Fusion, a brand of the Campbell Soup Co. of Camden, N.J., is adding two new varieties to its product line: Goji Raspberry and Passionfruit Tangerine.

Safeway’s O Organics and Eating Right brands have expanded their international distribution with upcoming debuts at the ShopRite and Exito supermarket chains in South Africa and Columbia, respectively.

Amid countless reports on how the economy affects everyday purchases, very little has been written about how shopping patterns are tied directly to paychecks -- or more specifically, how paydays at the start and end of each month create spikes in supermarket sales. Specifically, how much of a lift can retailers expect on the first week of each month? Which categories are most likely to spike at the beginning of the month? Has the average first-of-the-month spike increased in recent years?

Midwest supercenter pioneer Meijer, Inc. has rolled out the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System in all 185 of its locations in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

Tesco-owned Fresh & Easy’s 40- to 45-ounce family-size prepared meals, introduced last month to help customers trying to feed their families on a budget, are now the six top-selling lines of the grocer’s more than 110 prepared food items.

Kashi has added a new product to its Organic Promise woven-biscuit cereal line. Island Vanilla marries wheat pieces to real vanilla and evaporated cane juice crystals and contains no highly refined sugars, artificial additives and preservatives, according to the La Jolla, Calif.-based brand, a division of the Kellogg Co. Island Vanilla is also 95 percent organic.

Lancaster, Penn. -- The last time Ahold-owned grocery chain Giant Carlisle launched a new concept the resulting store was akin to a small city in scope—expanded departments and services that included everything from dry cleaning to babysitting. This time around, Giant downsized its box.