Food Industry Archive

McDonald’s to reduce pesticides — Responding to pressure from shareholders, the burger chain has agreed to look into best practices for reducing pesticide use in its potato supply. Though things are still in a preliminary stage, any changes McDonald’s winds up making could have a huge impact, as the company is the country’s largest purchaser of potatoes. [Sources:...

More...

The Food and Drug Administration is telling everyone to stop eating pistachios. The second largest producer of the nut, Setton Farms in California, has recalled its entire 2008 pistachio crop — more than a million pounds of nuts — after salmonella was discovered. The good news is, no one’s gotten sick. Yet. At least, not that anyone knows about and can definitively link to...

More...

Seattle-based Tully’s Coffee has completed the sale of its brand and its wholesale coffee business to Green Mountain Roasters of Vermont, a deal one coffee insider says could make Green Mountain the No. 2 national coffee company behind Starbucks. Insiders expect the $40.3 million deal — which was first announced back in September, but not closed until last week — will result...

More...

Delta Airlines announced today that Northwest employees will switch to Delta uniforms this week — “one of the first outwardly visible signs that the two airlines are now one.” Free snacks will also return to all flights. But the press release made no mention of how the airline would resolve one of its toughest dilemmas — Coke or Pepsi? Northwest is the only major...

More...

Ken Powell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Mills said in a press release last week that management expected commodity cost inflation for the fourth-quarter 2009 ending May 2009 to be “well below the estimated full-year inflation rate of nine-percent.” The packaged food company, known for brands like Cheerios, Pillsbury and Betty Crocker, might need to re-think that...

More...

KFC offers free pothole repair — The fried chicken chain has contacted mayors across the country to find out who might be interested in the first ever corporate-sponsored road fix-up. KFC will then choose from the respondents four cities at random and pay to fill potholes and do other maintenance. Some of these potholes will then be branded with the words “re-freshed by KFC,”...

More...

McDonald’s isn’t the only restaurant chain thriving despite the economy. Dallas-based Pizza Patron has seen consistently rising sales, and its first quick-service outlet, which opened three months ago in San Antonio, had a record opening week and became the top-selling store in the chain’s history. And this during a recession that has hit pizza chains particularly hard. But...

More...

It’s common knowledge that store brands are thriving as consumers feel the pinch of economic hard times. But some of these private labels may be in a position to keep their market share even after the economy gets back on its feet again. Rather than merely relying on their low prices to attract and maintain customers, private labels are behaving more and more like regular brands and no...

More...

Food companies among top 100 power brands — Coca-Cola maintained its No. 1 spot in CoreBrand’s annual “Brand Power” index this year, while rival PepsiCo plummeted further to No. 18 from No. 11, after being No. 4 in 2005. Starbucks dropped to No. 14, down from No. 10 in 2007. McDonald’s and Wendy’s were also in the top 100, at No. 44 and No. 48, respectively,...

More...

A friend of mine, on the road for business, recently found himself at a small coffee shop in South Dakota. The barista handed him a tepid cup of vile-smelling brown water. My friend smiled at her, politely added his cream and sugar, stepped outside, and promptly emptied the cup into the bushes. Before Starbucks was around, he told me, he never would have done such a thing. He was used to...

More...