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Industry news and insights by Katherine Glover

Food Roundup: Starbucks Slashes 401(k) Matches, Cadbury Drops CSDs, and More

By Katherine Glover | December 24th, 2008 @ 1:54 pm

Starbucks stops guaranteeing 401(k) contributions — The coffee shop chain said that starting Jan. 1, it will not necessarily match employee contributions to 401(k) retirement accounts. Instead it will switch to a “discretionary” program, meaning the company can elect whether or not to match contributions. [Source: Wall Street Journal]

Cadbury sells off last drinks division — Asahi Breweries purchased Cadbury’s Australian drinks unit for $811 million — the last of Cadbury’s soft drink holdings, including the Schweppes brand. Cadbury sold off Dr Pepper Snapple in May. [Source: Reuters]

Chipotle debunks Cereplast press release — Chipotle said it has no plans to expand its relationship with Cereplast, which makes compostable plastic silverware for one of Chipotle’s California stores. Cereplast had announced a “system-wide rollout of up to 800 Chipotle locations” in an earlier press release, without Chipotle’s approval. [Source: Food Business Review]

McDonald’s rejects naked photo lawsuit — The owner of an Arkansas McDonald’s said he should not be held responsible in a case in which naked pictures from a cell phone left at the restaurant wound up posted on the Internet. “The phone was left at the restaurant solely due to the plaintiff’s negligence,” his motion said. [Source: AP]

Ebola-Reston found in swine — Scientists in the Philippines found that some sick pigs were infected with the Ebola-Reston virus as well as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). It’s the first time the disease has been found in pigs, and international health experts have been called upon to investigate. [Source: Meat&Poultry]

Tags: 401(k) Plan, Beverage, Starbucks Corp., Cadbury Schweppes Plc., Chipotle, 401(k), Retirement Plans, Food & Beverage, Investment, Human Resources

Katherine Glover is a Minneapolis-based print, radio and online journalist. She's written for Salon.com, Sierra Magazine and many others, and she does a weekly blog on immigration issues for MinnPost.
 

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AboutFood Industry

BNET Food provides daily industry news coverage and insights for managers and executives, focusing on the major companies in the food and beverage sector, from manufacturers to retailers. In addition to detailed company profiles, we bring you critical analysis on new alliances and partnerships, new products, mergers and acquisitions, labor and cost management, investments and deal flow, and a host of other important business issues.