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Sara Lee Corp. has rejected a takeover offer valued between $18.70 and $20 a share from a private equity group led by Apollo Global Management LP, a source familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
Sara Lee has been weighing splitting up the company into separate meat and beverage units, or accepting a takeover offer. Sara Lee’s board was scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday to weigh its options, a source previously told Reuters. Get the full story »
Taco Bell Corp. is pushing back against a lawsuit that claims the fast food chain’s “seasoned ground beef” is not all it’s made out to be.
Taco Bell said on Tuesday that it plans to take legal action against the “false statements” being made about its food. The chain operates, manages or franchises more than 5,600 locations in the United States, according to the lawsuit. Get the full story »
From the Daily Herald | The first Chicago-area location of Smashburger has opened in the Randall Road corridor in Batavia. It is the first of what company officials expect will be seven Smashburger locations open in the area by the end of 2011. Get the full story>>
From Bloomberg News | McDonald’s Corp.’s management training center, on the outskirts of Shanghai in McDonald’s China headquarters, gets 1,000 applications for every eight slots. That’s a selection rate of less than 1 percent, lower than Harvard University’s record low acceptance rate last year of about 7 percent, according to the school’s official newspaper. Get the full story>>
Minneapolis-based SuperValu Inc. confirmed Tuesday that it will close a Jewel-Osco at 6057 S. Western Ave. next month. A Jewel spokeswoman said no further closure announcements are expected at the chain. The store’s 130 employees will be offered positions at other Jewel stores.
In a statement, the company said that “the decision to close a store is always difficult,” but in a challenging environment, the move “will strengthen Jewel-Osco’s overall business.” Get the full story »
Brazilian beef processor JBS has made a verbal buyout offer for Sara Lee Corp. and is expected to submit a written proposal in the coming day, two sources familiar with the situation said.
JBS made its verbal overture on Monday evening, the sources said. The terms of the offer were not immediately available. Get the full story »
Chicagoan Diane Sroga whips up a batch of Bunches of Crunches for Baskin-Robbins chefs Stan Frankenthaler, left, and Kerry Burke. Sroga's creation will be Flavor of the Month in June.
Who says ice cream should melt in your mouth? Not Chicagoan Diane Sroga, who came up with a recipe for chewy ice cream that netted her a four-day trip to Boston and $1,000 cash.
Sroga’s ice cream concoction, mixing chocolate ice cream with caramel, Heath bar pieces and pecans, beat out the recipes submitted by 40,000 others to win a contest sponsored by Baskin-Robbins to create a new flavor for the chain. Get the full story »
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Kanye West’s Fatburger franchise at 15100 S. La Grange Road in Orland Park closed this weekend after failing to meet the chain’s financial expectations. West’s Fatburger in Beverly will remain open. He has rights to develop a total of 10 restaurants in the Chicago area. Get the full story>>
Nutrition labeling is coming to the front of packaged foods. (AP)
A coalition of food and beverage manufacturers and retailers announced a plan to help consumers identify healthier choices in the grocery aisle.
Called “Nutrition Keys,” the program led by the Grocery Manufacturers Association will place pertinent calorie, fat, sodium and sugar information on the front of packages.
Developed in response to a request from First Lady Michelle Obama nearly a year ago, it also will call out products that contain under-consumed nutrients including potassium, fiber or vitamin C.
The Nutrition Keys logo will appear on products deemed to fit within a “balanced and healthy diet as part of the federal government’s daily dietary advice.
“Front-of-pack labels have become important in recent years, as experts acknowledge that few shoppers read the information panels on the back of foods.
Get the full story »
A group of private investors is buying the Atlanta-based Hooters of America Inc. and its restaurant chain.
A deal announced Monday will give a consortium of private investors including Charlotte, N.C.-based Chanticleer Holdings Inc. ownership of nearly half of all domestic Hooters restaurants and more than one-third of those worldwide. The sales price was not disclosed. Get the full story »
Taco Bell's lineup of beef tacos. (Taco Bell)
“Where’s the beef?” Wendy’s restaurants once famously asked through its advertising as a swipe at its small-burger competitors.
The same question is now being asked by a California woman regarding Taco Bell’s beef products, which she claims contain very little meat. So little in fact, she’s brought a false-advertising lawsuit against the huge fast-food Mexican restaurant chain. Get the full story »
U.S. consumers started drinking more higher-end spirits last year, leading the industry to see signs of a fragile recovery.
Liquor companies sold 190.7 million nine-liter cases in the United States in 2010, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States trade group. That was up 2 percent from 2009, when a recession crimped consumers’ drinking habits. Get the full story »
McDonald’s Corp. will raise prices in the U.S. this year to combat rising commodity costs, the company said in its fourth-quarter earnings call Monday morning.
The Oak Brook-based burger chain estimates that ingredient costs will rise 2 percent to 2.5 percent, with some of those costs passed on to consumers. Get the full story »
Crain’s Chicago Business | Shares in Sara Lee hit a 52-week high Friday on talk that the food company could be sold soon.
