Nov. 5, 2010 at 11:54 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Retail,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
(Charles Osgood/Chicago Tribune)
Kraft is apparently steamed by Starbucks’ announcement that it plans to fire the company as its grocery store distributor.
On Thursday night, Kraft Foods Inc. said its agreement to supply packaged Starbucks coffee to grocery stores “is perpetual…if Starbucks decides to exit its relationship with Kraft Foods, the agreement requires Starbucks to pay Kraft Foods the fair market value of the business plus, in certain instances, a premium.”
Starbucks fired back today with a company statement saying, “We consider it unfortunate that Kraft has chosen to make public statements that we believe mischaracterize the nature of the agreement between our companies, including the term of the agreement.” The statement went on to note that the companies’ agreement contains a clause for the resolution of disputes. Both companies maintain that regardless of how their relationship is terminated, customers shouldn’t expect service interruptions.
Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 11:26 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Food,
Stock activity
By Reuters
Kraft Foods Inc. shares fell 2.4 percent on Friday, a day after the packaged foods company said its 2011 forecast included an extra week.
The maker of Maxwell House coffee, Cadbury chocolate and Velveeta cheese also said that Starbucks wants to end the companies’ 12-year-old deal whereby Kraft sells packaged Starbucks coffee. Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 8:43 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Chicago-based BDT Capital LLC has purchased City Beverage, Chicago’s largest wholesaler of Budweiser, Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch beers, for an undisclosed sum. Get the full story >>
Nov. 5, 2010 at 8:12 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Food,
Packaged foods
By Ameet Sachdev
TreeHouse Foods Inc. posted a 27 percent increase in third-quarter profits, excluding unusual items, exceeding analysts’ expectations. The Westchester-based food company reported earnings of $24.8 million, or 68 cents a share, in period ended Sept. 30, compared with $28 million, or 85 cents a share, a year earlier. Get the full story »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 5:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Food,
M&A,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
Northfield-based Kraft reported strong earnings of 47 cents per share on Thursday afternoon. But the company’s sales, up 26.6 percent to $11.9 billion, just missed expectations of $12 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of 46 cents per share.
Earnings for the world’s second-largest food company were lower than the year-ago period, of 55 cents, because of increased advertising investment, higher taxes, and commodity cost increases.
“We had another good quarter, and we’re executing well,” Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld said in a statement. “The Cadbury integration has proceeded smoothly and quickly, and we’re already benefiting from significant cost synergies. I remain confident that we will achieve our goals for 2010 and accelerate our growth in 2011.” Get the full story »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 4:44 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Packaged foods
By Reuters
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 »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 3:49 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants,
Retail
By Associated Press
Starbucks says its fourth-quarter net income nearly doubled as revenue spiked, beating analyst estimates, and it raised its targets for fiscal 2011.
Nov. 4, 2010 at 11:45 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Health care,
Insurance
By Becky Yerak
(State Farm photo)
Setting your house on fire is sure way for your Thanksgiving Day to end up a turkey. But it happens every year.
Bloomington-based State Farm alone says that during the past five years it has received more than 160 damage claims related to Thanksgiving cooking accidents. Of the 10 states with the most claims, Texas ranks first, with 33 claims in that time period, while Illinois and Ohio round out the top 3, with 22 and 18, respectively. Get the full story »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 11:44 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Dow Jones Newswires
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. is developing an Asian restaurant concept modeled after the successful fast-casual burrito chain.
Chipotle founder and co-Chief Executive Steve Ells and a small team from the company are developing the concept, whose name wasn’t disclosed. They plan to open one location next year. Get the full story »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 10:23 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Jobs/employment,
Layoffs,
Management
By Reuters
(Reuters)
Four years ago, generous benefits and opportunities for advancement convinced Leigh Swanson to use her new master’s degree in human resources to manage a Starbucks cafe. She called it one of the best workplaces she had ever experienced.
Then, in 2007, with the coffee chain in the midst of a building binge, the worst downturn since the Great Depression hit, hammering Starbucks’ bottom line. Sharp cost-cuts, the introduction of corporate efficiency tools like scheduling software and an increased emphasis on pushing product sales have helped the company return to record profitability.
They also led Swanson to quit in May. The disappearing perks and the financial fixes dampened her enthusiasm for recruiting potential new partners, as Starbucks calls its employees. “I found it really sad. I was really invested,” said Swanson, who was in charge of a Starbucks in the Florida Panhandle. “I just didn’t feel proud anymore. I wasn’t in it to manage a McDonald’s.” Get the full story »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 6:04 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Restaurants
By Associated Press
Burger King is looking to put some pep into its new breakfast push by giving out free cups of coffee every Friday morning this month. The goal is to promote the company’s new breakfast menu, which rolled out in September. The company launched a major marketing blitz, with the aim of eating up some of McDonald’s market-leading morning business. Get the full story »
Nov. 3, 2010 at 4:14 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Economy,
Food,
Retail
By Associated Press
A Whole Foods in Santa Rosa, Ca. (John Burgess/Tribune)
Whole Foods Market Inc. more than doubled its fourth-quarter net income as sales rose, prompting the grocer to raise its full-year outlook on Wednesday.
The news sent natural and organic grocer’s shares soaring in after-hours trading.
Whole Foods, based in Austin, Texas, reported that its net income available to common shareholders rose to $57.5 million, or 33 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Sept. 26. That’s up from $28.7 million, or 20 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Nov. 3, 2010 at 11:24 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Hotels,
Personnel moves,
Restaurants,
Retail,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
McDonald’s announced today that European president Denis Hennequin will resign to become Chief Executive Officer of the Accor Hotel Group. His departure will be effective at the end of the month.
Before Don Thompson’s promotion to president and chief operating officer early this year, Hennequin was considered to be a dark horse candidate for the position, which is widely considered to be CEO-in-waiting. Jim Skinner, the current CEO, is 66.
“Denis’ leadership made a tangible difference in our key segment of Europe,” Skinner said in a statement. ”The European team’s dedication to our Plan to Win business strategy elevated the restaurant experience for our customers. We wish Denis well in his new role at Accor.” Get the full story »
Nov. 3, 2010 at 10:53 a.m.
Filed under:
Agriculture/Farming,
Food,
International,
Trade
By Reuters
(David Pierini/Chicago Tribune)
The U.S. chicken industry, which in September resumed shipping meat to Russia, has contacted the U.S. embassy in Moscow in an attempt to learn if Russia intends to stop such imports beginning Jan. 1.
The head of Russia’s consumer protection watchdog on Wednesday told Reuters in Moscow the country will ban sales and processing of deep-frozen poultry meat from Jan. 1, both domestic and imported, because freezing hurts the quality of the meat. Get the full story »
Nov. 3, 2010 at 7:18 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Earnings,
Food
By Emily Bryson York
MillerCoors said cost cuts and price increases helped it improve third-quarter profit 36 percent despite soft sales in a “sluggish U.S. beer market.” Excluding special items, net income increased to $334 million from a year ago. Get the full story »
