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Bitter rivals on store shelves in the candy aisle may also duke it out in court.
The Hershey Co. sued Mars Inc. this week. The maker of Hershey’s and Reese’s chocolate candies says the maker of Snickers, M&Ms and Dove candies is mimicking its packaging. Get the full story »
Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld. (Tribune)
From the Financial Times | Kraft Foods Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld appeared fourth on the Financial Times’ 2010 Women at the Top ranking of the world’s most influential female business leaders. Get the full story>>
Lifeway Foods Inc. reported Monday that its net income fell in the third quarter as the food maker’s costs rose. Get the full story »
From Ad Age | Kraft Foods has pulled longtime agency DraftFCB from four key accounts: Jello, Cool Whip, A1 Steaksauce and Bull’s-Eye barbeque sauce.
A shopper passes shelves of Sara Lee bread at a Chicago market . (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Sara Lee Corp. is selling its North American Fresh bakery unit to baking company Grupo Bimbo for $959 million as it looks to concentrate more on its coffee and meat businesses.
The Downers Grove-based maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Sara Lee breads said Tuesday that the sale will allow it to aggressively expand other businesses through acquisitions and other means. Get the full story »
A deal whereby Sara Lee Corp sells its North American bakery business to Mexico’s Grupo Bimbofor $900 million to $1 billion could be announced this week, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Get the full story »
(David Pierini/Chicago Tribune)
The vending machine industry is up in arms following a new report by the Food and Drug Administration that estimates the industry will need to spend 14 million hours annually to comply with new calorie disclosure laws.
The new requirements, signed into law this March under sweeping health reform legislation, require vending machine operators with 20 or more locations to provide a sign in close proximity to each food item in a vending machine to disclose the calorie count of that item before it is chosen. Get the full story »
A honey import executive who pleaded guilty to conspiring to avoid more than $5 million in U.S. anti-dumping duties has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Hung Ta Fan, who also used the name Michael Fan, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Chicago and was ordered to pay about $5.38 million in restitution. He pleaded guilty to the charges in August. Get the full story »
Starbucks Corp. informed Kraft Foods Inc. that it plans to end a more-than-a-decade-old deal under which Kraft distributes packaged Starbucks coffee to stores and other outlets.
Kraft, which also surprised Wall Street with its profit report, said it was too early to say what the impact of the lost agreement would be on its results. “We know this has been on their minds, but we haven’t entered into any specific conversations about the when or the why or the how,” said Kraft Chief Financial Officer Tim McLevish on a conference call with analysts. Get the full story »
Grupo Bimbo is the lead bidder to buy Sara Lee Corp.’s North American bread business for about $1 billion, though a deal could be several weeks away, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
Sara Lee, which declined to comment, had said last month it planned to spend more on its North American bakery business and raise some prices as it looks to improve performance in that lagging business.
That announcement to invest in the business had come after some suitors walked away from the bakery auction, sources familiar with the situation previously told Reuters. Get the full story »
The Food and Drug Administration warned Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. about the packaging for some of the company’s Enfamil infant formulas.
In a letter dated Oct. 18 that was posted to the agency’s Web site Tuesday, FDA said Mead Johnson didn’t give the FDA product specifications about a new plastic tub and lid used to store certain types of powdered Enfamil. Get the full story »
Dominck’s parent Safeway Inc. said lower prices drove its third-quarter profit down 5 percent, from a year ago, to $128.8 million.
Sales fell slightly, to $9.4 billion from $9.5 billion. The Pleasanton, Calif. company’s same store sales fell 2 percent, excluding fuel sales. Safeway pointed to lower prices for the same-store sales decline. Get the full story »
Shoppers at a Wal-Mart in Orland Hills, Ill. (David Pierini/Chicago Tribune)
Wal-Mart is planning to double the sales of fresh produce it sources from local farms in its U.S. stores by the end of 2015, part of a strategy to revamp its global produce supply chain.
The world’s largest retailer said it would also sell more than $1 billion each year in food sourced from 1 million small and medium-sized farms in emerging markets by the end of 2015. That would help increase income for those farmers by 10 to 15 percent in the same time frame, Wal-Mart said. Get the full story »
