Supermarket & Grocery Industry News

Just about everybody thinks IT ought to merit major investment but many fewer CPG exec believe their companies are putting their money where their mouth is, according to a research report issued yesterday by the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

Seafood and other specialty foods that are flown in fresh daily could be in short supply, and more expensive, as the result of canceled airline flights across the country.

The new Food FleetXchange transportation Internet portal launched by Food Distributors International (FDI) and the National Grocers Association (N.G.A.) Aug. 1 is already expanding and adding new services, members of the two food industry associations were told on Sunday during the Midyear Executive Conference.

Data Ventures LLC, a leading data analytics anddecision support company in the consumer packaged goods industry (CPG), announced on Wednesday a three-year contract with Coca-Cola North America (CCNA). Data Ventures will provide data warehousing and analytics to Coca-Cola North America's loyalty card data analysis and consulting services with major grocery retailers.

New government figures reveal that, while the priceAmerican farmers receive for their sugar has been running at its lowest level in more than two decades, the big grocers nationwide have jacked up the price they charge consumers for sugar to a 20-year high.

Provision X and iTradeNetwork (iTN) are a step closer to fulfilling their charter as the online meat products marketplace through an alliance that could generate $6 billion in transactions over the next 18 months.

The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR - news) today said it is cooperating with a ground beef recallannounced by American Foods Group, Inc., a wholesale meat supplier based in Green Bay, Wisconsin.American Foods announced the recall as a precautionary measure after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) detected thepresence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli) bacteria in a sample of beef processed by American Foods.

Laurel Grocery Company announced their continued expansion into Eastern Ohio with the agreement from several IGA retailers to form an ad group and be supplied by Laurel.