Trading Partners

Wilmington, Del. -- Wal-Mart and the Produce For Better Health Foundation (PBH) based here are setting the stage for millions of shoppers to Go Wild With Fruits and Vegetables during a one-day retailtainment event featuring characters from DreamWorks' "Madagascar" film being released in video form next week.

WASHINGTON -- The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) here yesterday presented new guidelines for blocking the distribution of counterfeit goods, to Chris Israel, the international intellectual property coordinator at U.S. Department of Commerce, during the National Chamber Foundation's Anti-Counterfeiting & Piracy Summit.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--ACNielsen U.S. yesterday rolled out Promotion Tracker, which offers the CPG industry the first-ever census-based reporting on the status of in-store displays.

WASHINGTON -- The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has announced the speakers for its inaugural Conference on the Future of Food, which will focus on the intersection between nutrition, international trade, regulations, and innovation in the food industry. The conference will take place in Washington, D.C., Nov. 29 to Dec. 1. One of the featured speakers is Norman Rich, president of Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets.

BOISE, Idaho -- Albertson's Inc. yesterday received an America's Marketplace Recycles! Award from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Spartan Stores, the nation's tenth-largest grocer here, has gone live on One Network's appointment scheduling solution, joining such other retailers as Kroger, Safeway, Food Lion, and Hannaford Bros.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Kash n' Karry Food Stores here replaced all the ground beef in its Kash n' Karry and Sweetbay Supermarkets late last week, after one of its meat suppliers, Thomasville, Ga.-based American Fresh Foods, Inc., issued a voluntary recall based on possible E. coli contamination.

CARLISLE, Penn. -- Giant Carlisle, an Ahold-owned grocery chain with 250 customer-driven supermarkets under the Giant Food Stores, Top Markets, and Martin's Food Market names in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, plans to deploy consumer demand management software chain-wide to enhance its merchandising capabilities.