Senate Democrats accused McDonald’s Corp. of offering hourly workers a bad deal on health insurance, prompting a strong defense from a top McDonald’s executive who disclosed fresh details about the chain’s benefits. The exchanges came at a hearing Wednesday that was part of a Senate committee investigation into “mini-med” insurance policies, a type of limited health plan favored by retailers and restaurant chains. Get the full story »
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Deal makes PepsiCo largest food co. in Russia
PepsiCo Inc. is buying a majority stake in Russian company Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods for $3.8 billion. The move will make PepsiCo the biggest Russian food and beverage company and broaden its presence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Get the full story »
Starbucks looks for growth, throws barbs at Kraft
Starbucks provided only limited updates Wednesday on its dispute with Kraft Foods Inc., but did say it has been dissatisfied with Kraft for a while and claimed Kraft has failed to effectively work with Starbucks or promote its products.
The two companies entered arbitration after Starbucks announced it wanted to end a 12-year agreement under which Kraft distributes and promotes packaged Starbucks coffee in stores.
Kraft has said the agreement has been mutually beneficial and that it has helped deliver major gains for Starbucks. A Kraft spokesman said Wednesday that the companies’ dispute centers on how Starbucks will take over Kraft’s responsibilities and end the contract. Get the full story »
Starbucks CEO: High coffee prices ‘tragic’
Starbucks Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz decried the commodity market on Wednesday, saying financial speculators, not product shortages, were to blame for recent price spikes in coffee.
“I think it’s tragic…that coffee prices are at these levels,” Schultz told analysts and investors gathered in New York. “There is no evidence whatsoever that we can see that there’s any supply or demand (issue).” Get the full story »
Wall Street wants more on Starbucks’ grocery plan
Starbucks is prepared to make acquisitions to help accelerate sales of bagged coffee and other consumer products beyond its cafes, Chief Executive Howard Schultz told investors on Wednesday.
The brass at Starbucks Corp says the consumer packaged goods business should grow faster than the company’s retail cafes, which total 17,000 globally.
But Wall Street wants specifics on how it will accomplish that goal, particularly as it works through a messy break-up with Kraft Foods Inc, which has handled sales of Starbucks packaged coffee and tea in supermarkets and club stores since 1998. Speaking at the company’s investor meeting in New York, Schultz said the Seattle-based coffee giant was prepared to buy small and large companies that would help expand its selection of consumer products. Starbucks shares rose 3.3 percent in morning trading. Get the full story »
Senate passes bill to boost food safety
The Senate passed the largest overhaul of the U.S. food safety system in decades on Tuesday, a response to massive recalls such as last summer’s recall of half a billion eggs in a salmonella outbreak.
The Senate voted 73-25 to pass the bill. The House of Representatives backed a different version in July 2009. With their post-election session due to end by mid-December, lawmakers have just weeks to resolve their differences and send legislation to President Barack Obama to sign into law. Get the full story »
Starbucks aims to recycle all used cups by 2015
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Starbucks may soon serve your morning coffee in a used paper cup that has been recycled into a new paper cup or napkins, as the coffee chain aims to ensure that 100 percent of its cups are reusable or recyclable by 2015.
In 2008, Starbucks set several aggressive goals to reduce its environmental impact. Over the past year, the company has introduced front-of-the-store centers in Toronto and Seattle to recycle cups, and in San Francisco, where cups can be composted. Get the full story »
Starbucks aims for average Joe with Seattle’s Best
A product image provided by Starbucks showing the company's new line of Seattle's Best Coffee. (AP Photo/Starbucks Corp.)
Starbucks Corp. wants to appeal a bit more to the average Joe.
This week, the company will roll out a new line of its Seattle’s Best Coffee to be sold at grocery stores and other retailers. It has a lighter taste and simpler selling approach that it hopes will attract coffee drinkers that Starbucks may have left behind.
The coffee giant acquired Seattle’s Best about seven years ago. Until recently, has let the brand sit quietly on the sidelines. But as competition for coffee drinkers has increased, Starbucks is looking to it for growth. Get the full story »
Congress expands McD probe into mini-med insurance
A congressional committee is widening its investigation of bare-bones health-insurance policies to encompass potentially hundreds of plans offered by low-wage employers.
What started as a probe into McDonald’s Corp.’s insurance plan for store workers is expanding into broad scrutiny of “mini-med” policies that could ensnare large mini-med carriers including Aetna Inc. and Cigna Corp. Get the full story »
Conflict between Kraft and Starbucks escalates
Starbucks Corp. and Kraft Foods began airing a messy divorce in public Monday, fighting over the dissolution of their partnership selling bags of Starbucks coffee at supermarkets.
Kraft said it had launched arbitration proceedings to challenge Starbucks’ attempt to end the agreement, sending shares of both companies lower.
At stake for Kraft is a partnership with $500 million in annual sales and strong profit margins. Starbucks may have to pay more than $1 billion to buy back the business and run it, a risky move for a company known for operating coffee shops, not selling packaged goods. Get the full story »
Bottled water firm closing namesake Fiji business
Fiji Water on Monday closed its operations in the South Pacific country that gives the popular bottled drink its name, saying it was being singled out by the military appointed government for a massive tax increase.
A company statement announcing the decision did not say whether the company was shutting down permanently in Fiji, where an acquifer deep underground has been the source of one of the world’s most popular bottled water brands.
The company, owned by California entrepreneurs Lynda and Stewart Resnick, said it was closing its facility in Fiji, canceling orders from suppliers and putting on hold several construction contracts in the country. Get the full story »
Sara Lee to buy regional Brazilian coffee company
Sara Lee Corp. said Monday it agreed to buy Cafe Damasco, a small Brazilian coffee company, for roughly $60 million as it looks to strengthen its position in South America’s largest country. Cafe Damasco has a leading position in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, and 2009 net sales of about $60 million. Get the full story »
Hershey sues Mars over trademarks
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 »
Wrigleyville Harry Caray’s to be ‘Benchwarmers’
Harry Caray’s Tavern in Wrigleyville will be renamed “Benchwarmers” next week, after the parties that owned and managed the restaurant terminated their business relationship.
Harry Caray’s Tavern opened at 3551 N. Sheffield Ave., in 2008, in a spot formerly occupied by Hi-Tops Café. Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group had been retained to manage the Sheffield location, which is owned by Benchwarmers Inc.
Grant DePorter, president of the restaurant group, revealed that the tavern was closing during a press conference held Tuesday by the Chicago Cubs to discuss the team’s plans to renovate Wrigley Field. He attended in a show of support for the team’s project. Get the full story »
FDA threatens to seize alcoholic energy drinks
(Associated Press)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned four makers of alcoholic energy drinks on Wednesday that their products could be seized if they continue to combine caffeine and alcohol in their beverages.
The move by the FDA, which described caffeine as an “unsafe food additive” in malt alcoholic beverages, was anticipated by at least one company – Chicago-based Phusion Projects, which manufactures Four Loko. The company announced Tuesday that it is removing caffeine and two other ingredients from its products. Get the full story »
