Market Trends

Food manufacturers received a range of grades — from good to failing — from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which recently issued a report card rating 128 food and entertainment companies’ policies on food marketing to children. Three-quarters of the companies rated got F’s for having insufficient policies or none at all.

CPG powerhouse Procter & Gamble yesterday took the wraps off its years-in-the-making program to help consumers whom the company calls the “Sustainable Mainstream” make simple choices based on resource conservation.

Kraft Foods’ U.S. Snacks business has teamed up with the NCAA and CBS Sports as an Official NCAA Corporate Partner, in an agreement covering several of the CPG powerhouse’s brands, among them Planters, Ritz, Oreo and Wheat Thins. The partnership encompasses promotional and marketing rights for the NCAA and all 88 of its men’s and women’s championships.

Spring arrives this month, and with it a bountiful new crop of center store opportunities. Among the occasion-based initiatives on tap are Hershey’s Easter product lineup, which includes some exciting new items; McCormick’s virtual workshop offering inventive ways for consumers to enliven their holiday celebrations; and Kraft’s big new partnership with NCAA and CBS Sports, which will begin rolling out a range of marketing initiatives during March Madness.

Multi-format retailer Giant Eagle is celebrating its first-ever Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for its GetGo convenience store and fuel station located at 140 Towne Center Drive in Wexford, Pa.

Ragu pasta sauce and ’80s Brat Pack sweetheart-turned-mother of three Molly Ringwald have joined forces for the “Recipe for a Good Start” Contest, which the iconic Unilever USA brand describes as a “nationwide search for moms and their recipe for giving their kids a good start in life.”

In light of the grocery store’s dual role as one of the most visited destinations in American life and its unique position to help impart trusted, sound nutritional information and education, Roundy Supermarkets’ Pick ’n Save, Copps and Rainbow banners have joined forces with Chicago-based Field Trip Factory to invite area classrooms to take part in its “Be a Smart Shopper!” program.

Eight out of 10 U.S. households eat dinner at home, according to The NPD Group, a market research company based in Port Washington, N.Y.