FOODSERVICE NEWS

Restaurants Press Congress For Wider Menu Labeling Provisions
Last week, 21 quick- and full-service restaurant chains asked Congress to expand menu-labeling provisions included in the proposed health care legislation in both the House and the Senate to include a wider scope of food service establishments. The request would require disclosure of calorie information to consumers where prepared foods are purchased, broadening its application to restaurants that meet minimum sales standards, The group is specifically calling on Congress to incorporate more convenience stores and grocery into the regulations.
The existing proposal would apply to restaurant chains with more than 20 stores, or less than one-quarter of the nation’s restaurants. The group recommends replacing the store unit minimum with a financial standard, such as $1 million in annual sales. Recognizing the burden that this might place on small businesses, it proposed an alternate standard that would apply to chains with three or more locations.

Boston Mayor Meets With Restaurant, Hotel Reps To Discuss Expanded Tax
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino last week convened a meeting of local executives and representatives from the restaurant and hotel industries in order to gain feedback on a proposal to levy local option meals and hotel taxes in the city. The state’s budget allows Massachusetts cities and towns to adopt a local option meals tax of up to .75 percent and a hotel tax of up to 2.5 percent. “None of us like new taxes – we have kept property taxes steady – but as I see it, these local option tax increases would primarily impact visitors to our city, and travel, tourism and convention business remains strong,” Mayor Menino said. “Even with the proposed increase, Boston’s meals and hotel tax rates would remain lower than many other comparable cities like New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Chicago.”
According to the Mass. Restaurant Assn., in order for a community to charge a local option tax, they must vote on it and adopt it. This is done in towns by their Boards of Selectmen and in cities by the city council. The law requires that the local option must become effective on the first day of quarter following at least 30 days from its local approval. This means that your city or town must approve the local option by August 31 in order for it to take effect on Oct. 1, 2009 or by Nov. 30, 2009 in order to it to take effect on January 1, 2010. Multi unit operators should have been contacted by the Mass. Department of Revenue by now seeking a list of locations so that separate identification numbers can be assigned to each location. In the future, operators will have to complete either a paper form or web file and will no longer have the option of telefile. Operators will need to have sales data for each location in order to file with the state.

Newport Harbor Corp Buys Providence R.I. Landmark Restaurant
Newport Harbor Corporation (NHC) has purchased Providence, R.I., landmark restaurant, Hemenway’s Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar. The downtown eatery will retain its name. NHC owns and operates many local restaurants in Newport under its Newport Restaurant Group branch including: Castle Hill Inn & Resort, a Relais & Chateaux property; The Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar; 22 Bowen’s Wine Bar & Grille; and The Smokehouse Café. NHC also owns and operates The Boat House Restaurant on the waterfront in Tiverton, Trio in Narragansett, and The Waterman Grille on the Seekonk River on the East Side of Providence. Guests of Hemenway’s will not notice any immediate changes and according to NHC, not one staff member will be replaced. The acquisition of Hemenway’s furthers the Newport-based company’s reach into Providence. NHC acquired the former Gatehouse Restaurant in 2007, also an iconic Rhode Island go-to spot, and turned it into The Waterman Grille, located on the Seekonk River in Richmond Square.

Food Service Latest Word…
James Plamondon, co presient of the Plamondon Cos which is an owner and franchisor of Roy Rogers Restaurants is the new chairman of the Restaurant Assn. of Maryland.

The Sorrento Cheese Fisherman’s Feast is scheduled for Aug. 13-16 in the North End. It is the 99th anniversary of Boston’s oldest continuous Italian Festival.

Castle Hill Inn & Resort announced it will sponsor the third annual Rhode Island Local Food Fest to benefit Farm Fresh Rhode Island on Tuesday, Aug. 4 from 5:00 p.m. to dusk. The event will feature some of Rhode Island’s top restaurants, including: Newport Restaurant Group, Persimmon, Little Farm Catering, Chez Pascal, New Rivers, Blackstone Caterers, and Up River Café. Chefs from each property will be paired with a local farmer providing select ingredients for each dish.

Maine Faire, a festival of food and drink will be held in the Camden-Rockport region of Maine Sept. 11-13.

C-STORE NEWS

Mass. Smokeless Tobacco Users May Be Eligible For Payout
Customers who purchased Copenhagen, Skoal or other U.S. Smokeless Tobacco products in Massachusetts from Jan. 1, 1990, to May 21, 2009, may benefit from a class action settlement. There is a proposed $10.645 million settlement of a class action lawsuit. Suffolk Country Superior Court. Plaintiffs alleged that U.S. Smokeless Tobacco engaged in sales practices that made it possible for the company to monopolize the market for moist smokeless tobacco products in violation of antitrust legislation. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco has denied that it engaged in any wrongful or illegal sales practices. The court has not ruled yet in the case and the next hearing is Oct. 23. If the court approves the settlement, eligible class members may receive cash payments of as much as $700.

Cumberland Farms Opens New Fresh Food Store in Hudson, Mass.
Hudson, Mass., is home to Cumberland Farms’ newest concept store.  The brand new model is designed to make life easier for the community.  From a wide variety of sandwiches that can be toasted on site, to thick chocolate milkshakes, flatbread breakfast sandwiches and even personal pepperoni pizzas, the new menu is squarely focused on fresh food. The Hudson store is the fourth of the company’s new concept renovated stores, part of a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment in revitalizing the brand. To celebrate the grand opening Cumberland Farms presented the Boys and Girls Clubs of MetroWest with a $1,000 donation. The club serves more than 600 young people per day in Hudson, Framingham, and Marlborough, Mass.  Students are elementary school age through high school, and participate in after school programs ranging from technology programs to gym activities. 

Tedeschi  Food Shops Welcomes  50 into the 2009 President’s Club
On June 15, executives of Tedeschi Food Shops welcomed and honored its 2009 President’s Club winners at Wentworth by the Sea located on the seacoast in New Castle, N.H. The event consisted of group activities including a formal ceremony to recognize and celebrate this year’s winners of the coveted award. “The President's Club award affords us the perfect opportunity to show our appreciation for our valued employees and franchisees,” stated Peter Tedeschi, company president and chief executive officer. “We are only as good as our employees and must never forget that they are our greatest and most valued asset.” This year’s class represented every facet of the company. Employees from corporate and franchise operations, human resources, sales & marketing, and store development came together to celebrate their achievements. 
Acceptance into this prestigious club each year is limited to the top seven percent of Tedeschi Food Shops employees. This year’s 50 inductees represent the best the company has to offer. “I am proud of this year’s winners and what they have achieved individually and collectively,” said Charlie Fitzgibbons, vice-chairman of the Board of Tedeschi Food Shops. “They join an elite group of past award winners and can feel very proud of their accomplishments.”  
Tedeschi Food Shops, headquartered in Rockland, Mass., currently owns and operates 189 convenience food stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

C-Store Latest Word…
A new website.Candy.com, is open for business and sells more than 6,00 different candy items from 500 plus manufacturers. The website is founded by Greg Balestrieri and Joe Melville who represent the third generation of family owned Melville Candy Co. of Weymouth, Mass.

The Altria Group said second quarter profit rose 8.6 percent aided by the purchase of smokeless tobacco company UST. The performance comes despite an increase in the federal cigarette tax of $1.02 a pack in April.

AriZona Beverages has introduced AriZona Kidz Teas. For every six pack purchased of the 10-ounce version of AriZona lemon iced team, the company will donate five percent of net sales to Operation Smile, a non profit group that woks to help children born with facial deformities.

NEW CHANNELS

Thrifty Shopping Is The Rule For Back-To-School And College Spending
The rules of back-to-school shopping have officially changed: buy only what you need, check for coupons and sales before hitting the stores, and, if you can find the perfect computer at the right price, grab it!
According to a survey by the National Retail Federation’s and BIGresearch, the average family with students in grades kindergarten through 12 is expected to spend $548.72 on school merchandise, a decline of 7.7 percent from $594.24 in 2008. Total spending on back to school is expected to reach $17.42 billion and 2009 back-to-college and back-to-school spending combined will total $47.50 billion.
  According to the survey, the economy is having a major impact on back-to-school spending as four out of five Americans (85 percent) have made some changes to back-to-school plans this year. Some of those changes impact spending, with 56.2 percent of back-to-school shoppers hunting for sales more often, 49.6 percent planning to spend less overall, 41.7 percent purchasing more store brand/generic products and 40. percent planning to increase their use of coupons.
Spending in most back-to-school categories is expected to decrease, with one bright spot: electronics. With personal laptops and desktop computers increasingly affordable for most families, spending on electronics and computer equipment is expected to increase 11 percent. According to the survey, the average family plans to spend $167.84 on those purchases, compared to $151.61 last year. Families will also spend an average of $204.67 on clothing and accessories, $93.59 on shoes, and $82.62 on school supplies. While discount stores (74.5 percent) will be the most popular destination for back-to-school shoppers, the number of people planning to buy school items at drug stores is expected to rise substantially.

Tree of Life’s New Northeast Distribution Center To Begin Operations In August
Tree of Life’s new 311,000-square-foot Northeast Region Distribution Center is scheduled to open and begin shipping to regional customers in August. Located near Allentown, Pa., the company's new state-of-the-art distribution center will bring improved distribution capacity to both Tree of Life’s supermarket and natural food store customers throughout the Northeast. The company earlier announced that the company's Albany, N.Y., distribution center will close Aug. 31, and that customers formerly served by that facility will begin to be serviced by the new, larger distribution center in Pennsylvania.
The new Allentown facility will provide an estimated 140 new jobs in the area – approximately 120 warehouse employees and 20 delivery drivers. Tree of Life’s new Northeast distribution center will include new warehousing technology and safety equipment, including pick-to-light, in-line weight scales and horizontal carousels.

Big Y To Offer 14 Day Supply of Free Antibiotics
Big Y Foods, Inc. , Springfield, Mass., will begin offering up to a 14 day supply of free antibiotics to customers starting July 23 from a list of 29 select generic antibiotics along with a customer’s Express Savings Club Card. This prescription program is available at any of Big Y’s 33 pharmacies throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. According to Charlie D’Amour Big Y president and chief operating officer, “with families struggling to afford health care, we are delighted to expand our free antibiotic program in advance of the cold and flu season.  Along with our affordable generics program, this free antibiotics program is one more way that our Big Y health and wellness initiatives support our communities."

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The federal minimum wage rose 70 cents to $7.25 on July 24. The hike will impact 31 states whose minimum wage levels are below $7.25 including Florida, Pennsylvania and New York.

The U.S. Senate may drop reviewing ‘pro union “card check” legislation opposed by employers. It would have required businesses to recognize a union as soon as a majority of workers signed cards saying they wanted a union. Senators are working on a compromise bill that would provide shorter unionization campaigns and faster elections.

Target Corp opened 23 stores last week which includes four general merchandise stores; 17 general merchandise stores with an expanded food format and two SuperTarget stores with full grocery offerings.