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Battling back from a dismal 2009, Gatorade is putting on its game face and launching a new advertising campaign seeking to cast itself as more than a sports drink.
Starting Wednesday, the Chicago-based unit of PepsiCo Inc. will be promoting in commercials its “G Series,” a trio of products it introduced earlier this year that targets student athletes looking for a drink before, during and after a workout or athletic event. Get the full story »
General Mills Inc. said price increases on foods such as frozen vegetables and baking products should help it meet its profit target for the year.
The company also said it is on track to cut $1 billion in costs by the end of May 2012, which should help offset rising commodity costs that contributed to weaker-than-expected second-quarter results. And new products such as Cinnamon Burst Cheerios and Gluten Free Bisquick will lift sales. Get the full story »
Kraft Foods Inc. raised list prices on its well-known Maxwell House and Yuban coffee brands in the United States, effective Dec 14, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday. Get the full story »
A feud between Starbucks Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc. over supermarket coffee sales has been brewing since at least January — far longer than Kraft has acknowledged — according to email exchanges between their top executives provided by Starbucks.
The rift became public last month, when the Seattle coffee company said it wanted to end its 12-year-old distribution deal with Kraft, which sells bags of Starbucks coffee in supermarkets and other stores. Get the full story »
Johnson & Johnson issued a recall of its Softchews Rolaids antacids Thursday after wood and metal bits were discovered in the tablets.
J&J, which recalled some Rolaids products in November, said it was voluntarily recalling all lots of the Softchews products after potentially uncovering problems with a third-party manufacturer.
The recall is the latest in a string of pulled products for J&J’s consumers unit that has drawn attention from U.S. authorities and Congress, hurt sales for its consumer products parent company and tarnished J&J’s reputation. Get the full story »
General Mills Inc. is lowering the amount of sugar in its children’s breakfast cereals to no more than 10 grams per serving from 11 grams a year ago, the latest move from a U.S. foodmaker to address childhood obesity.
The step-down in sugar by General Mills, the maker of Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Trix cereals, is a move closer to its year-old goal to reduce to single-digit levels the number of grams of sugar per serving in all of its cereals advertised to children under 12. Get the full story »
Kraft is seeking a preliminary injunction against Starbucks Coffee Co., which has announced plans to sever its agreement with the Northfield-based packaged food company to manage its grocery coffee business. Starbucks plans to assume responsibility of the coffee business March 1.
“Starbucks is proceeding with flagrant indifference to the terms of the contract and customary business practices,” Marc Firestone, Kraft’s general counsel said in a statement. Get the full story »
The peanut butter and cheese crackers of Lance Inc. are just one vote away from being combined with the pretzels of Snyder’s of Hanover Inc. as the companies aim to form the country’s No. 2 producer of salty snacks after PepsiCo Inc.’s Frito-Lay division.
Shareholders of Charlotte-based Lance cast 96 percent of their votes Thursday in favor of issuing the stock needed to merge with privately-held Snyder’s of Hanover, Pa. Snyder’s shareholders will vote on the merger Friday, and if they approve, the companies could complete the move Monday. The new company would be called Snyder’s-Lance.
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 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 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 »
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 »
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 »
