The Obama Administration released details of its Healthy Food Financing Initiative. With the first year of funding, the administration's initiative will leverage enough investments to begin expanding healthy food options into as many as one-fifth of the nation's food deserts. (USDA)
Cargill has started piloting a third-party remote video auditing (R.V.A.) program as a food-safety tool in its 10 North American beef plants. The auditing is intended to eliminate the opportunity for cross-contamination.
Quickserve breakfast traffic was up 64% in the five years prior to the recession; by last fall when unemployment hit 10%, it was down 4% (NPD, reported by The Washington Post). Meantime, supermarket sales of bagels and donuts were up 5.7% and 2.9% respectively in 2009 compared to 2008. (Perishables Group)
The locally-grown food business - mostly produced without pesticides, antibiotics or growth hormones - has grown 20% per year over the past decade, now accounting for nearly $11 billion nationwide. (AgWeek)
Global cheese consumption is expected to reach 21 million metric tons by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Supermarket volume sales of deli cheese grew 2.5% in 2009. (PRWeb)
As more suppliers and retailers are trying to reach a powerful demographic – moms – Ahold launched SmallVictories.com for Giant and Stop & Shop. The mom-focused Website offers recipes, money-saving tips and the opportunity for moms to exchange ideas. (www.smallvictories.com)