FOODSERVICE NEWS

Menu Labeling Part of House Speaker’s Health Care Reform Bill
Last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced a sweeping health care bill that also includes provisions for menu labeling. The bill outlines general nutrient-labeling requirements for restaurants and retail establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more outlets.
Those restaurants affected would be required to prominently post calorie counts for standard items on menus and menu boards as well as calories per serving for each item on a buffet, salad bar, cafeteria line or self-service display.
Standard menu items are defined as those offered for at least 60 days per calendar year and would not include daily specials, custom orders and test market items on the menu for less than 90 days.
Restaurateurs also would be required to post a brief statement regarding daily caloric intake “designed to enable the public to understand, in the context of a total daily diet, the significance of the nutrition information that is provided.” The Pelosi bill also would require calorie disclosure in vending machines.
Separately, the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee bill also includes a similar menu labeling provision.
Restaurant association officials have voiced support for a similar Senate bill, maintaining that the industry needs a uniform national nutrition labeling standard to avoid a patchwork of state and local regulations. However, a coalition of chain executives insist that the measure does not go far enough and argue that the rules should apply to a greater number of food service operators.

Early Study Finds Customers Purchase Lower Calorie Food
Preliminary data shows that customers purchased lower calorie food because of the New York City menu labeling law. It’s been nearly two years since the city mandated that fast-food restaurants post calorie information on menus. A recent study by the city has found evidence that the law is beginning to change consumer habits.
Preliminary data from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene study, showed that customers purchased lower-calorie food at nine of the 13 fast-food and coffee chains surveyed. Researchers discovered statistically noteworthy decreases at Au Bon Pain, KFC, McDonald’s and Starbucks. Just over half of fast-food customers (56 percent) said they had noticed the calorie data.

Coverall Forges Alliance with Ecolab
Coverall Health-Based Cleaning System, a franchisor of commercial cleaning businesses, recently announced an alliance agreement with Ecolab Inc., a major provider in cleaning, sanitizing, food safety and infection prevention products and services.
Coverall evaluation determined that Ecolab's products met or exceeded all of Coverall's stringent standards and systems. In addition to cleaning compounds, Coverall will exclusively offer Ecolab's comprehensive hand hygiene system to its franchisees, as well as specify the new Ecolab product line for its Touch-Free restroom cleaning protocol. Coverall has more than 9,000 franchisees serving over 50,000 customers in many vertical industries such as healthcare, food service, retail, fitness and recreational facilities as well as commercial office buildings.

Food Service Latest Word…
Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts have reached agreement concerning the hiring of a former Starbucks executive by Dunkin’ Donuts. Paul Twohig, hired as Dunkin Donuts’ brand operating officer cannot begin working for Dunkin until Jan. 15, 2010. Twohig must not disclose Starbucks trade secrets or confidential information to Dunkin Donuts.

South Shore Meats voluntarily recalled beef products after more than 20 Rhode Island students and chaperones became sick at a Plymouth, Mass camp.

Troy Smith Sr., the founder of Sonic, died Oct. 26 at 87 years old.

The International Hotel and Motel Show will be held Nov. 7-10 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.

U.S. Foodservice announced it is the first broadline distributor in the U.S. to offer its customer farm-raised seafood certified as sustainable under the Best Aquaculture Practices Certification.

The Mass. Restaurant Assn. will sponsor a recruiting seminar Nov. 3 at the Café Escadrille, Burlington, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

C-STORE NEWS

Hood, Hershey Form Major Partnership
HP Hood LLC, has entered into a licensing agreement with The Hershey Co., Hood has been granted license to manufacture, sell and distribute extended-shelf-life (ESL) Hershey flavored milks and milkshakes nationwide.  
 Hood will partner with Hershey to launch a  line of 12 oz. single-serve Hershey-branded products—including a Hershey’s Reduced Fat Chocolate Milk,  Hershey’s Chocolate Milkshake and Hershey’s Cookies n’ Cream Milkshake—to markets across the U.S. beginning January 2010.  
 “This partnership opens the door to new opportunities for us, our dairies, our distributors and our customers,” said Jim Walsh, executive vice president of sales for HP Hood.  “We have the tremendous ability to leverage the collective strengths of our organizations and accelerate the distribution of Hershey’s new flavored milks and milkshakes across the country.”

Bottled Water Deposit Era Begins In New York
A new era of deposits on bottled water in New York wlll be ushered in on Nov. 8 following a federal court lifting the injunction that had delayed implementation for five months.
Under an Oct. 23 order by U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts, the injunction on bottled water deposits ended effective Oct. 31, 2009.
However, the state granted retailers up to an extra week to sell through remaining non-deposit inventory, reprogram cash registers and reverse vending machines, and transition into compliance. As of Nov. 8, all water offered for sale in New York had to be Bottle Bill compliant.
Retailers now are collecting a nickel deposit on containers of less than one gallon or 3.78 liters of water, flavored water, and nutritionally enhanced water that contain zero grams sugar as shown on the nutrition label.

Anheuser-Busch To Support NACS Interchange Fight
“Today we stand together to take a public stance in support of the efforts made by NACS and the C-Store industry to fight for a more competitive and transparent card system that works better for consumers and merchants,” said Anheuser-Busch Inc. President and CEO Dave Peacock in an Oct. 20 letter to the National Assn. of Convenience Stores. “When you discuss this topic in Las Vegas, we hope your members will hear this message: Anheuser-Busch supports you,” said Mr. Peacock.
The interchange fight has been front-and-center at the NACS Show, with both Hank Amour, NACS president, and NACS Outgoing Chairman Sonja Hubbard making the issue a focal point of their Oct. 21 General Session speeches. In addition, NACS held a workshop on the topic and announced a new petition drive and a new video to help engage retailers and consumers in the fight against outrageous credit card interchange fees.

C-Store Latest Word…
The deadline for nominations for the New England Convenience Store Assn. (NECSA) Store Operator of the Year is Nov. 2. The program honors honor those individuals who set the standard of excellence for the C-store industry in New England.  To nominate an individual, go to NECSA's website at www.necsa.net and download the nomination form and fax, email or mail to NECSA. Also, NECSA retail members were invited to participate in two NECSA Share Groups on Thursday, Nov. 5 at NECSA's office in Stoughton, Mass.  The first session will be moderated by Ken Hawes, director of training and development for Honey Farms, Inc. Topics to be discussed will include management and leadership, performance evaluation, wage/benefit compensation, and training programs. Tim Brunelle, director of loss prevention at Drake Petroleum Co./Xtra Mart, moderated a Loss Prevention Share Group including discussions on operations and loss prevention, technology, and safety and security.

Quick Chek, a privately-owned premier chain of more than 120 food store locations throughout New Jersey and southern New York, celebrated the grand opening of its newest store located at in Ramsey, N.J., on Oct. 26. Quick Chek will donating 25 cents for every sub, sandwich and wrap sold during its first 30 days of operation to the Ramsey Ambulance Corps.

NEW CHANNELS

Smart Choices Program Postpones Active Operations
Two weeks after Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced an initial inquiry, the Smart Choices Program announced it will voluntarily postpone active operations and not encourage wider use of the logo at this time by either new or currently enrolled companies.
This move follows an announcement by FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, M.D. on Oct. 20which said that the agency intends to develop standardized criteria on which future front-of-package nutrition or shelf labeling will be based.
"We welcome the FDA's interest in developing uniform front-of-package and shelf-labeling criteria," said Mike Hughes, chair, Smart Choices Program. "The Smart Choices Program shares that exact goal, and was designed to provide a voluntary front-of-package labeling program that could promote informed food choices and help consumers construct healthier diets. We continue to believe the Smart Choices Program is an important step in the right direction."
"Our nutrition criteria are based on sound, consensus science," said Mr. Hughes. "But with the FDA's announcement this week that they will be addressing both on front-of- package and on-shelf systems, and that uniform criteria may follow, it is more appropriate to postpone active operations and channel our information and learnings to the agency to support their initiative.”

UNFI Announces Plans For New Texas Facility
United Natural Foods, Inc. of Providence, R.I. a national distributor of natural, organic and specialty foods, last week announced plans to lease a new 590,000 square foot distribution center in Lancaster, Texas.
The facility provides UNFI with a location to support retailers throughout the Southwest including Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana. Operations are scheduled to commence in the fall of 2010 The Lancaster Texas facility will be the company's 21st distribution center in its nationwide distribution network. Schematic design plans for the new facility are near completion and include: dry grocery as main program space; 54,000 SF of refrigeration and freezer space; an expanded cold dock; and nearly 20,000 SF for employee offices and workspaces. Environmental design plans will focus on resource and energy conservation, use of sustainable and recycled-content building materials, and exceptional indoor air quality for the building occupants. The company plans to pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for the distribution facility.

Roberts American Gourmet Announces Pirate Partnership
Roberts American Gourmet Foods, a manufacturer of all-natural snacks including the Pirate’s Booty brand, recently announced an investment partnership as well as a new name – Pirate Brands. 
Robert’s American Gourmet Food, LLC founder and CEO, Robert Ehrlich, has joined forces with Mike Repole, former president and co-founder of Energy Brands, Inc., known as Glacéau Vitaminwater, which Coca-Cola acquired in 2007.  Mr. Repole made a capital investment and now owns a majority stake in the company along with VMG Partners, a branded consumer products-focused private equity firm with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles.  Mr. Ehrlich continues his duties as chief executive officer and maintains a significant stake in the company. 
Pirate Brands produces baked, all natural snacks, including the brands Pirate’s Booty, Smart Puffs, and Original Tings. The products are sold in the U.S. and Canada.

New Channels Latest Word…
Super 88 which operates a small chain of Asian supermarkets in Boston has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A few months ago, the chain had initially reached an agreement to be acquired by Hong Kong Supermarkets but the agreement fell through after a challenge by other companies that said they had agreements to acquire individual locations.

Walgreen plans to acquire Easton Apothecary pharmacies in the Boston area.

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, BJ's Wholesale Club is challenging the communities in which it has clubs to collect 25 tons of groceries to help feed local families in need. In turn, BJ's Charitable Foundation will donate the financial equivalent of one million meals to Feeding America's Food Bank network partners located in the communities BJ's serves.