Sep. 27, 2010 at 4:47 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Emily Bryson York
A McDonald's Chipotle BBQ Snack Wrap. The chain plans to introduce larger wraps. (McDonald's)
McDonald’s is supersizing its snack wraps. A company spokeswoman confirmed that the chain is testing a variety of larger wraps, with chicken, sauce and a variety of vegetables, in various downtown Chicago locations.
The $4 wraps come with grilled or fried chicken and a variety of flavors: Santa Fe BBQ, Garden Ranch, or Roma Pesta, with tomato pesto and garlic mayonnaise. News of the chicken-wrap test was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
McDonald’s president and chief operating officer Don Thompson said that the company was hatching a number of new wraps in July, based on the understanding that consumers are looking for more flavor variety. Get the full story »
Sep. 27, 2010 at 2:29 p.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Food
By Julie Wernau
POM Wonderful isn’t quite as wonderful as it claims, the Federal Trade Commission said Monday, after filing a complaint that challenges the company’s statements that pomegranate can prevent and treat everything from heart disease to erectile dysfunction.
The agency called the claims — found in advertisements in print publications and on the Internet — “false and unsubstantiated” and based on flawed medical research.
In a story this March, the Tribune named POM Wonderful as one of several products on the market that made health claims in its advertising that are permissible only for FDA-approved drugs. Yet, POM Wonderful has staked its name on the fruit’s health benefits. According to POM Wonderful, since 1998 the company has paid $34 million to support pomegranate-related research at universities and by other scientists, yielding approximately 55 published studies. Get the full story »
Sep. 24, 2010 at 8:01 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Emily Bryson York
Morton Grove-based Lifeway Foods, the leading U.S. supplier of Kefir, will purchase assets of New Jersey-based Fruit Juice Inc. The company makes First Juice, the first organic fruit and vegetable drink designed for children. Get the full story »
Sep. 23, 2010 at 5:02 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Manufacturing
By Reuters
Abbott Laboratories posted a list of lot numbers on Thursday for the millions of recalled containers of its Similac powdered infant formulas and expanded Internet and call center capacity to handle a deluge of requests for information from concerned parents.
The company announced a voluntary recall on Wednesday of about 5 million units of its top-selling powdered infant formula after beetles were found in the products and in a Michigan plant where they are made.
The Abbott Web site was so busy after the recall that it crashed Wednesday night, hampering efforts by parents to find out if they had been feeding their babies tainted formula. Get the full story »
Sep. 23, 2010 at 4:32 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Associated Press
This free Budweiser’s for you. But so is the job of figuring out when and where to get it.
Anheuser-Busch InBev announced this week that a “Budweiser National Happy Hour” kicks off next Wednesday with free samples at bars and restaurants. But because local and state laws limit alcohol sampling, the brewer can’t give any more specifics.
Sep. 23, 2010 at 3:25 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
Dominick’s is rolling out an online coupon program today that sorts, organizes and personalizes offers for its loyalty-card members.
The program, called “Just For U,” is designed to create a centralized location for customers to store coupons. Members will receive personalized offers based on purchase history, gleaned use of Dominick’s Fresh Values Card. Get the full story »
Sep. 23, 2010 at 1:51 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Stefani’s Tuscany Cafe has closed at the Shops at North Bridge, deciding not to renew its lease after 10 years at what has become a more traditional mall food court.
Sep. 23, 2010 at 9:41 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Franchises,
Restaurants
By Associated Press
McDonald’s Corp. is boosting its quarterly dividend by 11 percent to 61 cents, and analysts expect the world’s biggest hamburger chain to continue returning cash to shareholders while still investing in its restaurants.
Sep. 23, 2010 at 9:10 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Emily Bryson York
Johnny Rockets, the 1950s diner-themed hamburger chain, which has opened a combined restaurant with the Halsted Street Deli on the corner State and Lake Streets in the Loop, will celebrate its grand opening today.
Between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. the restaurant will be passing out samples of the chain’s classic hamburgers, wings and shakes. Every 15 minutes, guests can also participate in a raffle to win coupons, for a free shake with purchase a hamburger, and Johnny Rockets gift cards. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. Get the full story »
Sep. 23, 2010 at 7:08 a.m.
Filed under:
Advertising/Marketing,
Beverages,
Food,
Restaurants
By Emily Bryson York
Free Bud, Sept. 29. (AP)
This Bud’s for everybody. In response to slipping sales, Anheuser-Busch is handing out free beer. The company will host a “National Happy Hour” on Sept. 29, according to several news outlets, in an attempt to woo some consumers to its brew, and remind others why they used to drink it.
“On-premise sampling is the old standby of point-of-purchase sales tactics,” Beer Business Daily editor Harry Schumacher noted in an email to subscribers this morning. “You buy people beers in bars, they like it and they like you, and then it drives off-premise sales.” Get the full story »
Sep. 23, 2010 at 6:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
A Starbucks store in New York. (AP)
After declaring its resolve last month to absorb increases in the cost of green coffee, Starbucks Corp. said it will raise prices on some of its drinks.
The Seattle coffee giant said Wednesday that the price of green Arabica coffee, which is close to a 13-year high, and price volatility for other raw materials it uses, such as dairy products sugar and cocoa, have forced it to respond. Get the full story »
Sep. 22, 2010 at 12:33 p.m.
Filed under:
Food
By Associated Press
The chairman of a House subcommittee says a recent outbreak of salmonella in eggs paints, in his words, “a very disturbing picture of egg production in America.” Get the full story »
Sep. 21, 2010 at 11:49 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Government,
Investigations
By Associated Press
A company that has engineered salmon to grow twice as fast as the conventional variety says its food should not be labeled any differently in the grocery store if it is approved by the U.S. government.
The chief executive of the company, Ron Stotish, argued at a Food and Drug Administration hearing Tuesday that genetically modified salmon have the same flavor, texture, color and odor as the conventional fish. Get the full story »
Sep. 21, 2010 at 7:13 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Food
By Associated Press
Foodmaker ConAgra Foods Inc. says tight competition, inflation and a sluggish retail environment pushed first quarter net income down 12 percent. Get the full story »
Sep. 20, 2010 at 9:58 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Updated
By Associated Press
AquaBounty salmon, rear, have an added growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon to a normal Atlantic salmon, front, that results in a transeni salmon that grown to market size in about half the time as a normal salmon. (AquaBounty/MCT)
Genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as the conventional fish appears to be safe, an advisory committee told the Food and Drug Administration Monday. But they argued that more testing may be needed before it is served on the nation’s dinner tables.
