Research & Analysis

NEW YORK - Children in the United States hold massive consumer power in the food and beverage industry, according to The U.S. Market for Kids Foods and Beverages, a newly published Packaged Facts report.

DALLAS - Ukrop's Super Markets Inc. has selected services from the viaLink Company. The Virginia retailer and its suppliers will use vialink's sbtLink scan based trading service to implement more efficient business processes and improve customer satisfaction.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Penn Traffic's chief financial officer and executive VP has resigned, as the Syracuse, N.Y.-based retailer continues to consider whether to file for bankruptcy.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Supermarkets and packaged food companies top the list of industries that get the best marks for serving their customers in the annual Harris Poll, which ranks 15 industries on how well they serve consumers. These two industries were not included in the listing in previous years.

PITTSBURGH -- Giant Eagle will launch a new television advertising campaign in key trade markets this week to promote its products and customer service.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Three months after an accounting scandal was revealed at its Columbia, Md.-based U.S. Foodservice subsidiary, Dutch retailer Ahold says it has uncovered an additional $29 million in accounting errors in other American operations.

CHICAGO - Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich signed the nation's first statewide ban on ephedra and urged other states and the federal government to do the same.

NEW YORK - CVS Corp. and BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. said they have received and responded to informal letters of inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding their handling of rebates from suppliers, according to a Dow Jones newswires report.