Market Trends

California Grocers Association SVP Jill Rulon, has left the organization to pursue other opportunities.

The National Retail Federation has launched its Mobile Retail Initiative to offer best practices and learning opportunities for retailers diving into mobile commerce and marketing.

The volume of fresh fruits and vegetables purchased by American grocery shoppers increased over the past year, according to the latest installment of the United Fresh Foundation’s “Fresh Facts on Retail” report, which profiled fruit and vegetable sales during the fourth quarter of 2009.

Veteran retail meat executive Michael Yakovsky has joined Lincoln, Neb.-based B&R Stores, Inc. as its new meat director.

According to the “2010 NCH Coupon Facts Report” released by NCH Marketing Services, Inc., a Valassis company, current economic conditions are causing 94 percent of those surveyed to use consumer package goods (CPG) coupons at least once in the past year, and 77 percent regularly.

In a bid to help shoppers get their days off to a balanced, healthy start and maximize consumers’ growing interest in quality breakfast fare, Lubbock, Texas-based United Super Market’s six upscale Market Street stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area are offering an eye-opening “Living Well Favorites” breakfast menu in their prepared foods departments.

With an influx of grocers angling to enhance their value and sustainability propositions, many are expanding their bulk food sections across a variety of categories, which has in turn prompted an estimated 15 percent increase in bulk food sales during 2009 over the previous year, according to the Little Rock, Ark.-based BGC Bulk is Green Council (BGC).

In tandem with Earth Day, The Kroger Co. is urging shoppers to step up their use of reusable shopping bags while inviting them to enter an online shopping bag design contest that gets underway April 12 and runs through May 21.