Nonfoods

SAN ANTONIO -- H.E. Butt Grocery Co. has implemented new food and beverage solutions at its Tortilla Plant and Bakery in Corpus Christi, Texas and its Floral Processing Center here, bringing the total number of operating plants to four.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Aiming to take a bite out of the growing market for organic foods, Supervalu cut the ribbon on its first Sunflower Market here. The 12,000-square-foot, value-priced natural and organic foods retail outlet carries 8,000 to 12,000 SKUs, and will serve as the prototype for a Supervalu expansion plan that includes opening 50 Sunflower Market stores in five years.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- The 74,000-square-foot Price Chopper Market Center that opened yesterday in Keene, N.H. marks the second in the state for the Northeast regional grocer, based here. The first New Hampshire Price Chopper location opened in West Lebanon in December 1999.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Grocery wholesaler/retailer Supervalu's record performance across both business units in Q3 2006 is a sample of what the company expects to see in the long term, according to chairman and c.e.o. Jeff Noddle.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- In yet another sign of supermarkets joining forces with foodservice companies, Publix Super Markets here said yesterday it will test an in-store Carrabba's Italian Grill takeout restaurant in one of its Sarasota stores this summer.

NEW YORK -- A handful of food retailers are among on Fortune Magazine's list of The 100 Best Companies to Work For, and the most prominent, Wegmans Food Markets, came in at No. 2, one off its lead position on last year's list.

CARLISLE, Pa. -- Giant Food Stores here has been named the PA Preferred program's first retailer of the year. Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff, whose department designed and created PA Preferred, presented the award to Jeff Martin, Giant's s.v.p., at the annual Farm Show Dinner, held Jan. 6 in the state capital, Harrisburg. The program helps Pennsylvania's small farmers and food processors grow their businesses.

MONTVALE, N.J. -- The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc. here is still in the red, but it was able to slow down the bleeding somewhat in its fiscal 2005 third quarter ended Dec. 3, 2005.