By Bruce Japsen
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley tours a Walgreens store at 1533 67th Place in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Walgreen Co. plans to expand its fresh food offerings in several hundred stores in coming years, company chief executive officer Greg Wasson told shareholders this afternoon.
Addressing 2,500 shareholders at the company’s annual meeting at Navy Pier on Chicago’s lakefront, Wasson said such stores fit the company’s strategy to evolve from a “retail drugstore to a retail ‘health and daily living store.’”
Walgreen Co., which offers more and more health and wellness needs, began to test out fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables last year, particularly in poor urban markets where access to healthy food choices is a problem. Get the full story »
Jan. 11 at 12:52 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
M&A,
Packaged foods,
Private equity
By Reuters
JBS, the world’s top beef processor, could team up with a group of buyout firms as it seeks alternatives to win control of Sara Lee Corp., a source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters Tuesday.
Private equity firms have pursued Sao Paulo-based JBS since reports about a potential bid for Sara Lee arose late last year, the source said. No accord over a joint bid has been reached, said the source, who declined to be quoted by name because the talks remain private. Get the full story »
Jan. 10 at 8:45 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
M&A,
Packaged foods
By Reuters
Shares of Sara Lee Corp. rose more than 2.5 percent Monday on reports that a group of private equity firms is interested in a buyout of the coffee and meat company. Get the full story »
Jan. 9 at 10:44 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
M&A,
Packaged foods
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC and investor C. Dean Metropoulos have formed a group of investors to explore a purchase of Sara Lee Corp., people familiar with the matter said.
Apollo and Metropoulos, a Connecticut entrepreneur who acquired Pabst Brewing Co. last year, are leading a consortium that includes Bain Capital LLC and TPG Capital LP, the people said. Get the full story »
Jan. 7 at 4:08 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Packaged foods
By Associated Press
The Illinois Department of Agriculture says Chicago company Columbus Meat market Inc. has recalled about 200 pounds of ground beef patties because of possible E. coli contamination.
Jan. 7 at 6:21 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods
By Reuters
Starbucks Corp. told a federal judge it gave Kraft Foods Inc. ample warning of its plans to end their grocery partnership and that the food maker is now standing in the way of an orderly break-up.
In legal filings on Thursday, the world’s biggest coffee chain asked U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel to deny Kraft’s request to stop Starbucks from ending their 12-year-old deal and moving the business to a new partner. Get the full story »
Jan. 7 at 6:02 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
M&A,
Packaged foods,
Updated
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Sara Lee Corp. is moving ahead with plans to split up its meats and coffee businesses into two separate companies after it rejected Brazilian beef processor JBS SA’s takeover offer last month, people familiar with the matter said.
JBS hasn’t ruled out its interest in buying the company, which has a market capitalization of about $11 billion, and could yet come back with a higher offer, these people said. But they cautioned that JBS, which has a market cap of about $10 billion, could have trouble securing financing for a deal. Get the full story »
By Emily Bryson York
Kraft's new "voice" of its Mac & Cheese, Ted Williams, appears on NBC's "Today" show on Jan. 6, 2011. (Reuters/Handout)
Here’s an unusual way to get a job: Ted Williams, a Columbus, Ohio, panhandler, garnered the attention of the Columbus Dispatch, which posted a video of him doing sample voiceovers by the side of the road.
From this, Williams appeared on the “Today” show Thursday morning, announcing that he’d gotten a job as the voice of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.
In the video, a disheveled Williams explained that he’d studied voice in school, but developed a drug and alcohol problem. With two years clean, he said, he was hoping that a company would notice him. Get the full story »
Jan. 4 at 5:58 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods
From Bloomberg News | Starbucks Corp. is trying to break a 13-year-old deal that ties its single-cup home brewing business to Kraft Foods Inc.’s slow-selling Tassimo machine. Under the terms of the deal, Starbucks can’t put its coffee in the Keurig Home Brewer, which dominates the U.S. market for machines that make single cups of coffee in a minute or less. Get the full story>>
By Associated Press
A beekeeper stirs honey at an apiary near Wuhan of Hubei Province, China. (China Photos/Getty Images)
Honey companies and importers are launching a program in January to try to stop the flow of illegally sourced honey from coming into the country.
The True Source Honey Initiative is an effort by a handful of producers and importers looking to certify the origin and purity of the honey sold to U.S. consumers in jars and products such as cereals, snacks and glazes. Get the full story »
Dec. 29, 2010 at 7:01 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods
From Bloomberg News | Starbucks Corp. denied Kraft Foods Inc.’s claim that the foodmaker has performed “exceptionally well” under an agreement that Kraft claims gives it exclusive rights to sell Starbucks coffee in grocery stores through 2014.
“Starbucks avers that it has repeatedly expressed its dissatisfaction to Kraft regarding Kraft’s performance” under the agreement, the world’s biggest coffee shop chain said in its answer to Kraft’s complaint. Get the full story>>
By Monica Eng | The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning Monday for consumers to avoid alfalfa sprouts and spicy sprouts that were grown on a farm in Urbana, Ill., because of a suspected link to salmonella. Get the full story »
Dec. 28, 2010 at 8:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Litigation,
Packaged foods
By Associated Press
Starbucks Corp., which is in a legal dispute with Kraft Foods Inc. over a distribution deal, says the foodmaker has not performed up to its expectations — with Kraft admitting missteps in internal communications.
Kraft, which says the coffee chain violated terms of a distribution deal, announced late last week that a New York court may consider its request for a preliminary injunction against Seattle-based Starbucks. Both companies have until Jan. 21 to present their positions. Get the full story »
Dec. 27, 2010 at 9:21 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Packaged foods,
Recalls
By Alejandra Cancino
A gourmet bakery in Lincolnwood specializing in European style pastries is recalling all its desserts made after Nov. 1 because of a food poisoning outbreak that has sickened 100 people. Get the full story »
Dec. 22, 2010 at 2:29 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods
By Dow Jones Newswires
In the ongoing legal spat between Kraft Foods Inc. and Starbucks Corp., Kraft said Starbucks plans to sever a 12-year coffee-distribution deal on Jan. 29, although Kraft is scrambling to block the plan.
“By the week of Feb. 13, Kraft would be out of stock of many products, thereby causing harm to its retail customers in the form of lost sales,” Kraft said in a court filing dated Dec. 17. Get the full story »
