FOODSERVICE NEWS

Uno Restaurant Holdings Files For Chapter 11
A week after closing 16 units in eight states, Uno Restaurant Holdings announced it filed a petition for Chapter 11 .Last week Uno announced a restructuring which will recapitalize the company.
Frank Guidara, president and chief executive officer of Uno said, "The Uno brand is strong; it's the balance sheet that needs fixing. Today's announcement marks the beginning of a new era for Uno wherein the Company will no longer be saddled with a burdensome debt load. Accordingly, we will now be able to leverage our operational strength which, combined with the substantially improved cash flow expected to result from our restructuring, will put us in a position to make long-term investments in the future of Uno's core businesses, Uno Chicago Grill restaurants, Uno Due Go, Uno Express and our Uno Foods Consumer Products Business."
Mr. Guidara said that from the perspective of Uno customers, “It will be business as usual in our restaurants and consumer products business and they will see the same commitment to quality and service that they have come to expect from the Uno brand. We are also working very closely with our employees, vendors and partners and we expect no disruption to our daily operations."

NRA Says Sales Outlook Will Brighten In 2010
The restaurant industry is expected to show gradual improvement in 2010, according to the National Restaurant Association's 2010 Restaurant Industry Forecast released last week.
Industry sales are projected to reach $580 billion this year, a 2.5 percent increase in current dollars over 2009 sales. When adjusted for inflation, 2010 sales will be essentially flat, which is an improvement over the 1.2 percent and 2.9 percent negative growth in real sales that the industry experienced in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
The quick service restaurant segment is expected to fare slightly better than the full-service segment as diners focus on value and specials. Quick service restaurants are projected to post sales of $164.8 billion in 2010, a gain of 3.0 percent over 2009. Sales at full-service restaurants are projected to reach $184.2 billion in 2010, an increase of 1.2 percent in current dollars over 2009.
The eating-and-drinking place segment expected to show the strongest growth in 2010 is social caterers, whose sales are expected to increase by 4.5 percent. Among all commercial industry segments, the strongest growth is expected in retail-host restaurants (including those located in gas/service stations and drug and grocery stores) with a 4.9 percent sales increase.

NECI Changes Leadership After 30 Years
The Board of Directors of the New England Culinary Institute of Montpelier, Vt., recently appointed Dr. Robert (Skip) Myers as the college's new president, succeeding Fran Voigt, who had served in that role for all NECI's nearly 30 years of existence. Mr. Voigt, the co-founder of NECI, will remain with the college for the next several years, serving as chief executive officer.
Dr. Myers, 58, is also an avid and accomplished amateur chef who - just before the NECI opportunity was presented to him - was considering the possibility of joining a culinary school, not as an executive, but as a student.NECI's strategic plan calls for the college to become more competitive in its field, provide expanded offerings that will include a more traditional college curriculum in addition to food-related courses, provide a broader range of associate and baccalaureate degree options, and also expand its online presence.

Food Service Latest Word…
The National Restaurant Assn., several state associations and Heartland Payment Systems announced a new partnership to deliver a growing menu of business tools and resources to the industry. The tools include card processing, payroll, check management, tip reporting and compliance serves.

New Jersey became the fifth state to require menu data from chain restaurants. Beginning January 2011, New Jersey restaurants that are part of a chain with 20 or more outlets nationally must post calorie counts on menus and menu boards.

Buckhead Bistro, Cellar 56 of Atlanta, Ga., promoted Josh Carden from sous chef to executive chef.

C-STORE NEWS

National C-Store Count Holds Firm Despite Economy
The number of U.S. convenience stores fell 0.2 percent over the past year and stands at 144,541 as of December 31, 2009, according to the NACS/Nielsen TDLinx 2010 Convenience Industry Store Count.
This is the second straight year the count has declined and only the fourth time in the last 15 years that the industry’s store count has declined. The industry count reached a high of 146,294 stores two years ago.
“The decline is driven by fluctuating gas prices and many retailers, especially single convenience store owners, not being able to keep up with the expense and operating at a profit,” said Todd Hale, senior vice president of Consumer & Shopper Insights, Nielsen. “Consumer purchases with payments by credit cards -- and the associated interchange fees paid to the card companies by retailers -- have been a real problem for the industry and for single-store owners.”
“That our numbers largely held firm in a miserable economic climate and the dismal lending environment is a testament to our overall industry’s strength and offer,” said Greg Parke, NACS vice chairman of research and chief executive officer of The Parker Cos. in Savannah, Ga.
The convenience retailing industry also continues to be dominated by single-store operators, accounting for 62.3 percent of the industry. While the overall industry store count declined 334 stores, one-store operators increased by 452 stores.
Despite extreme price and profit volatility for motor fuels, convenience store retailers still consider motor fuel operations to be important. A total of 115,340 convenience stores sell motor fuels, a 0.6 percent increase over last year. Overall, nearly 79 percent of all convenience stores sell motor fuels.
Convenience stores also outnumber the cumulative total stores count from competing channels in the United States. According to Nielsen TDLinx, as of December 31, 2009, there were 35,612 supermarkets, 37,654 drug stores and 27,247 mass merchandiser/dollar stores.

Matrix Capital Markets Completes Sale Of Former Uni-Marts
Matrix Capital Markets Group, Inc. announced the sale and closing of all of the 204 retail convenience stores and petroleum distribution assets of Uni-Marts. The Uni-Mart stores were located in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. A total of 144 of the assets were purchased by Kwik Pik, LLC, an affiliate of Lehigh Gas Corporation. The closing of the sale of 138 of the assets to Kwik Pik was completed on Dec. 30, 2009 with a closing on the remaining 6 assets on Jan. 8, 2010. Sixty stores were sold to 25 various other purchasers and those closings occurred at various times during the period from October 30, 2009 through January 7, 2010.

World’s Most Famous Former Hacker’ to Keynote NACStech 2010
Kevin Mitnick, often called “the world’s most famous former hacker,” will deliver the Closing General Session presentation at NACStech 2010, which will take place May 5-7, 2010, in New Orleans, La.
Mr. Mitnick, the founder of Mitnick Security Consulting LLC, will focus on issues related to data security and PCI compliance in his presentation. He will specifically addresses PCI DSS requirements by using his “hacker’s insight” to identify and examine the biggest exposure risks for convenience and petroleum retailers.  He is the author of two best-selling books, The Art of Deception, published in 2002, and The Art of Intrusion, published in 2005. He served as a general session speaker at NACStech 2004. More than 1,200 attendees are expected for NACStech, which features nearly 100 exhibits. Registration is now available at www.nacstech.com.

C-Store Latest Word…
Sam Jacobsen, one of the early leaders of the National Assn. of Convenience Stores, passed away last week at 84 years old. He operated more than 200 PDQ convenience stores in six states....Pump prices continue to rise. The current national fuel price is averaging close to $2.80 per gallon compared to $1.83 over the same time last year. NACS has linked the higher prices to the price of crude oil. Also contributing to the rise is the recent cold weather hitting many part of the U.S.

Corey Fitze has joined NACS as the director of government relations. He formerly served in political fundraising position for thboth the National Republican Congresssional Committee and 3 Dog Consulting.

National Tobacco Co. has added two new sales executives. Steve Towle will be the key accounts manager in the South Central region of the country and Tom Meyer will be the regional sales manager for the nine state Midwest region.

NEW CHANNELS

Food & Beverage Trades Contribute Heavily To Haitian Relief
For the second consecutive week, all channels of the food and beverage industries have committed funds to the Haitian Relief effort. C&S Wholesale Grocers transported on its corporate jet a team of eight disaster response professionals. On the return flight, a group of volunteers from Keene, N.H., where C&S corporate headquarters is located, will be brought home. This group had been on the island of Ile a Vache assisting at a clinic before the earthquake occurred. C&S also plans a donation of medical supplies (medication and items for wound care). Nearly 115 tons of food and water including canned fruit and vegetables, SPAM, juice and cereal will also be sent by C&S.
Goya Puerto Rico brought personnel and supplies to Port-au-Prince and Goya Dominican Republic has coordinated with Haitian authorities to send food and supplies over the border. Goya, overall will bring more than 300, 000 pounds of food items to the earthquake victims.
Other large donations by food and beverage companies include the following: 136,000 liters of bottled water by FIJI Water; $2.9 million by Publix Super Markets and customers; $1 million by Whole Foods Market and customers; $475,000 by Mars Inc., $1 million in bottled water and food products and $80,000 in cash by Nestle’ USA; 1 million cans of water and $300,000 by Anheuser Busch ; more than $1 million by Kroger and customers; $50,000 by Food Lion and $45,000 by DCI Cheese Co.
Relief organizations that are leading efforts in Haiti include: the American Red Cross, Oxfam, Partners in Health, Salvation Army, UN World Food Program, World Vision, Doctors Without Borders, Catholic Relief Services, Action Against Hunger, Project Hope, UNICEF, and the United Nations World Food Program.

Physician Organization Endorses NuVal Nutritional Scoring System
The American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) last week endorsed the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System as an effective way to help consumers learn about the foods they buy.
NuVal, based in Braintre, Mass., gives all foods a score from 1 to 100; the higher the score, the higher the food’s overall nutrition. All NuVal scores are provided on the supermarket shelf, allowing the shopper to compare the overall nutrition of the foods they buy at a glance.
"ACPM supports evidence-based and meaningful nutrition labeling that can guide consumers to
healthier eating,” said ACPM President and Dr. Mark Johnson, “ACPM has reviewed
the NuVal nutritional rating system and found that it meets the ACPM criteria for support." Dr. Johnson added that ACPM received no financial compensation for its endorsement, which was purely merit based.
NuVal is currently in use in more than 525 supermarkets in 18 states. The system is on the shelves of all Price Chopper, Hy-Vee and Meijer supermarkets, and will be on the shelves of United Supermarkets in March.

Walgreens Plans To Offer Fresh Food, Prepared Meals
Walgreens recently announced that it is planning to offer fresh foods and prepared meals at its more than 7,000 stores in an effort to reach “time-starved” shoppers. Walgreens has been negotiating with food companies including Unilever, Nestlé, and Sara Lee about developing private-label and branded products. “Everyone is time-starved and we have the most convenient 7,000 locations in the U.S.,” said Bryan Pugh, vice president of merchandising for Walgreens. “They’re on-the-way-home destinations that are easy to get in and out of and will provide a good value.” Walgreens will sort out supply and distribution issues while testing products in select markets before rolling out salads, cut fruits, and sandwiches in a large-scale campaign. Walgreens hired a director of fresh foods who will begin work in several weeks. Last year, Walgreens began reintroducing alcohol in some of its stores.

New Channels Latest Word…
Fortune Magazine recently published its “100 Best Places to Work” and included a number of food retailers and food companies. They include: Wegmans, Whole Foods, Stew Leonards, JM Smucker, McCormick and Co.

SC Johnson and Co., Publix, Super Markets, General Mills, Starbucks, and Colgate Palmolive…King Arthur Flour was named one of Vermont’s Best Places To Work.

CVS Caremark named David Casey as its new diversity officer.