Supermarket & Grocery Industry News

BOSTON -- Oldways, a nonprofit food issues think tank here, has formed a Latino Nutrition Coalition in response to concerns that were voiced last week during the second Oldways Preservation Trust Latin American Diet Summit in Mexico City.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- With Wal-Mart looking to expand its supercenter concept into northern California, locally based Raley's launched a new everyday low price (EDLP) strategy yesterday on a significant selection of products in its 125 Raley's, Bel Air Markets, and Nob Hill Foods stores.

LANDOVER, Md. -- The management of Stop & Shop and Giant Food have announced several major changes that will take place at Giant for the remainder of 2005 and 2006, including selling Giant's headquarters here, and selling or closing several manufacturing operations and distribution centers, which will impact about 500 jobs.

CHICAGO -- At the 2005 FMI Show here the Food Marketing Institute has awarded the 2005 Neighborhood Partnership Awards (NPA) to five companies: Food Lion, LLC of Salisbury, N.C.; C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. of Keene, N.H.; Ukrop's Super Markets, Inc. of Richmond, Va.; Wakefern Food Corp. of Edison, N.J.; and White Rose Food of Carteret, N.J. The annual awards, now in their ninth year, honor quality and distinction in supermarkets' community-based initiatives in the areas of youth development, hunger relief, health and wellness, and urban economic development.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Joseph R. Heinen, who helped run the regional 15-store Heinen's Fine Foods supermarket chain begun by his father, died April 30 at his home here at the age of 70, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. He suffered from a chronic respiratory illness.

CHICAGO -- Food retailers have a "much, much bigger" opportunity to increase their share of the ethnic foods market, ethnic marketing expert Terry Soto told a crowd here at the Food Marketing Institute Show during a Close-Up Session called "What's New in Ethnic Trends."

Coinstar is thinking about ways to help retailers turn the front of the store from a no man's land into a gold mine.

Food writers do a lot more than write recipes, and their coverage of local retailers can help stores get their own messages out to influential consumers.