Tasty Tidbits

• The NPD Group in their A Look into the Future of Eating claims consumer preference for convenient food options will grow over the next 10 years. The data for the study comes 5K persons tracked for two weeks to record their eating choices.

• Walgreens pharmacy same-stores sales increased 9% during June 2009 thanks to increases in 90-day prescription plan customers and an extra weekday on the calendar. In all, Walgreens generated total sales of $5.24bn (vs. $4.8bn one year ago).

• Rite Aid reported same-store sales down 0.6% due to an increase in the use of generic drugs. Rite Aid’s total sales were $1.97bn (vs. $2.02bn a year ago).

• Overall, retail clinics, which had looked like a gold mine for health care providers, were down as flu, sore throats and immunizations associated with colder weather were down. Wal-Mart announced 2 years ago it would open 400 clinics within 3 years and 2,000 within 7 years, but has only 34, down from 43 last Fall.

• Grocery chain Niemann Foods Inc. has contracted with American Digital Signage to provide a digital marketing program that will include digital signage and mobile text messaging communicating store announcements and sales promotions in a test at its Quincy, IL store.

• Husband forgot your anniversary? A small study from Australia suggests daily supplements of soy isoflavones could help boost a man’s mental function and memory.

• Having been called a “runaway train” by one industry analyst, McDonald’s continues to show why it dominates the fast food restaurant market: by giving away 10MM coffee samples as part of its “McCafe Mocha Monday” nationwide event that includes voting for the “McCafe Your Day” song-test and sweepstakes.

• As concern over food safety remains prominent, the US market for active & intelligent packaging is expected to grow 8.3% annually to $1.9bn by 2013, well above the overall packaging industry. “Active” and “intelligent” prolong shelf life for foods or react to spoilage by changing color.

• The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has declined to offer regulations governing the term “probiotic” despite pressure from both manufacturers and the scientific community who feel the term lacks precision and is being abused for commercial gain.

• Decatur, IL-based Archer Daniels Midland Co. has had its price-fixing fine reduced by the European Court of Justice to €29.4MM ($41.2MM) from €39.69MM ($55.5MM). The European Commission levied the original fine, describing the firm as “the leader in a secret cartel” of five companies that illegally fixed the worldwide price for citric acid from 1991-1995. The substance is a widely-used preservative in jams and jelly, as well as canned fruit.

This blog includes excerpts from a weekly round-up of food industry & food licensing news provided free to Broad Street Licensing Group's clients, and as a paid subscription service (6 months $695; 1 year $1,125).

Too busy to keep up with the news wires & publications about the food business? If you or your company would like to subscribe to our news service, call Danielle Foley at Broad Street Licensing Group (tel. 973-655-0598) and ask for your free sample or click on our website.