World News

• Aeon Co., Japan’s largest supermarket chain, is opening a 500-chain of convenience stores in Tokyo’s megalopolis. Plans are for the stores to be open by 2012. The move would make Aeon the first retailer to make such a switch in the Japanese retail market, rivaling Tesco’s opening of its c-store-like Fresh & Easy footprint in the US last year. The new model will take up 130-200 sq. meters and will be open from 6AM to midnight. Aeon already is using the smaller format with its 3,000 “Ministop” stores. The company has 5,100 stores worldwide, both owned and franchised.

• PepsiCo, Inc. has acquired Karinto S.A.C. who makes “Los Cuates,” Peru’s best-selling corn chips, as well as the company’s manufacturing arm, Bocaditos Nacionales S.A. Other brands included in the purchase are Fripapas and Papi Frits potato chips, as well as edible seeds, raisins, mixed nuts and the #1 peanut brand. PepsiCo is looking both at health snacking as well as niche and macro-snack opportunities. PepsiCo purchased Brazil’s Comercio de Doces Lucky Ltda. less than 2 years previously as part of its goal of defending Frito-Lay’s image as “the evil empire.”

• The price of palm oil, an important frying tool, is expected to rise as Malaysian farmers have been unable to upgrade their extraction facilities.

• In Food & Wine’s annual selection of top cities for cutting-edge cuisine and vibrant food scenes, Tokyo beat our Barcelona (without Vicky & Christina), Copenhagen, London and New York. Among the restaurants highlighted was Tofuya Ukai, a century-old converted sake brewery serving multiple varieties of soy.

• McDonald’s continues to be bullish on China, announcing plans to add more than 10,000 new hires, 80% of which will be college graduates as part of efforts to improve service and efficiency. As part of that strategy, salaries will be increased 6.3% across the board and additional training will be started. In 2008, McDonald’s grew 8.9% to hit 2,012 Chinese locations, a growth rate exceeding the U.S. and the EU. Plans for 175 new outlets in 2009 will continue the company’s emphasis on this market.

• Ice cream brands are also targeting the Middle Kingdom: Dairy Queen, Baskin Robbins and Haagen-Dazs are planning to expand stores despite the slack state of the Chinese economy. Dairy Queen will open 100 new outlets in 12 Chinese cities, and Movenpick is shifting from marketing the Haagen-Dazs brand only in expensive hotels to “second-tier” cities according to China Daily.

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