Trading Partners

WASHINGTON -- A group of doctors that has sued several dairy product manufacturers, claiming their weight loss claims are untrue, said this week that it has dropped Kraft Foods from the suit.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- As fall approaches and families get back to hectic school schedules, the frozen and refrigerated foods industry will offer convenient solutions to fuel busy school days. The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) here and its partnering manufacturers will promote October "Fuel for School" Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Festival with a sweepstakes and retail merchandising contest to build excitement with consumers.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- ShopKo Stores, Inc., a multi-department retailer with 363 stores in the Western and Pacific states, yesterday completed the rollout of a direct store delivery (DSD) solution across its 140-store ShopKo Stores Division.

WESTPORT, Conn. -- After focusing for the last decade on cost-cutting, productivity enhancements, and mergers and acquisitions to help spur growth, retailers and marketers now agree they need to make top-line sales growth the top priority in order to build profits, according to a recent study from the GMDC Educational Foundation.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Earth Fare has committed to selling only fresh eggs from cageless hens, the chain said yesterday. The natural foods supermarket chain's decision will freeze out the only supplier of "caged-hen" eggs it had: a local Abbey.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- After being informally investigated in 2004 for certain accounting practices, Ingles Markets, Inc. here is now the subject of a formal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the supermarket chain revealed in its latest 10-Q filing with the SEC.

BERKELEY, California -- Grocery Outlet Inc., an extreme value food retailer with 122 stores in 7 western States, will add four new stores during the next three months to continue to build upon its network of independently operated stores in the Pacific Northwest.

RUTLAND, Vt. -- Vermont's biggest food show, the 71st annual Vermont Grocers exposition, hosted by the Vermont Grocers' Association (VGA), will take place Friday, Sept. 16 to Sunday, Sept. 18 at the Wyndham Burlington Hotel in Burlington, Vt. and the Robert E. Miller Exposition Center in Essex Junction, Vt.