March 28 at 10:13 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
M&A,
Updated
Goose Island brewmaster Greg Hall checks operations at the company's Chicago brewery in this photo from 2009. Hall will step down as part of Anheuser-Busch's planned takeover of Goose Island. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune)
By Josh Noel and Emily York | Goose Island Beer Co., the Chicago-based brewing powerhouse, announced this morning that it will be taken over by Anheuser-Busch (A-B) for $38.8 million.
Goose Island, whose legal name is Fulton Street Brewery LLC, is selling a 58 percent stake in the company to A-B for $22.5 million. The Craft Brewers Alliance, in which A-B holds a 32 percent stake, has agreed to sell its own Goose Island stake to A-B for $16.3 million. The Craft Brewers Alliance owns the remaining 42 percent of Goose Island. Get the full story »
March 25 at 11:49 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Technology
By Associated Press
(Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)
For the first time, Girl Scouts are accepting credit cards using a device called GoPayment, a free credit card reader that clips onto smart phones. Girl Scout leaders hope that allowing customers to pay with plastic will drive up cookie sales in a world where carrying cash is rapidly going the way of dial-up Internet.
Keeping pace with changing technology is a priority lately for the historic Girl Scouts, an organization that’s preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. Get the full story »
March 25 at 7:55 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Franchises,
IPOs,
Restaurants
By Reuters
Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc, a large South American franchisee of U.S. fastfood chain McDonald’s Corp, is planning to raise about $875 million in a stock offering and list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Get the full story »
March 24 at 3:07 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Packaged foods,
Updated
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
A shopper outside a Jewel at Roosevelt and State Street, April 29, 2008. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Jewel-Osco parent Supervalu Inc. hopes to save millions of dollars a year by training workers to avoid double-bagging, putting more items in each bag or skipping the bag altogether.
“We’re in a very competitive industry. Anything we can do to lower our expenses will help us keep our prices as fair as possible,” says Supervalu spokesman Mike Siemienas. Get the full story »
March 24 at 11:59 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Retail
By Reuters
Safeway Select cookies at a Dominick's. (Terry Harris/Tribune)
Grocery retailers’ store-brand products are expected to double their share of the global packaged food market over the next 15 years to make up half the market, according to a report issued on Thursday.
The report by Sebastiaan Schreijen, associate director of processed food and retail at Rabobank, said growth of private-label brands will be fueled by retail consolidation in developed markets, adoption of modern retail in developing markets, and increased consumer acceptance of private-label brands following the recession, among other factors.
March 24 at 8:12 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Packaged foods
By Tribune staff report
The maker of Laughing Cow cheese wedges, Bel Brands USA, is moving its corporate headquarters to downtown Chicago later this month from Elk Grove Village. About 80 workers will make the move to 30 S. Wacker Drive, where Bel Brands is leasing 27,000 square feet. Get the full story »
March 24 at 7:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Napkins are shrinking at upscale and casual restaurants. (Bill Hogan/Tribune)
The dinner napkin today is a fraction of its former self.
The 30-inch square, which was considered suitable as lately as 25 years ago, is now likely to be 20 to 22 inches square in a restaurant, and 18 to 22 inches at home. In a reverse trend, lunch napkins, which used to stay a respectful step behind, at 14 to 20 inches, are getting larger — even on the best laps — so that you don’t have to own more than one set of napkins to get through the day. Get the full story »
March 23 at 2:21 p.m.
Filed under:
Agriculture/Farming,
Food
By Associated Press
A nearly 50 percent increase in vegetable prices should ease in coming weeks as farmers deliver more tomatoes, lettuce and other crops to grocers. Get the full story »
March 23 at 1:49 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods,
Restaurants
By Reuters
Starbucks Corp. coffee on a shelf at a grocery store in New York. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)
Starbucks Corp. wants to make sales of its coffee and other products in the grocery aisle rival its traditional cafe business, according to Chief Executive Howard Schultz.
The world’s biggest coffee chain is betting it can use the power of its brand to sell a portfolio of goods — such as Via instant coffee and bottled Frappuccino — everywhere food and beverages are sold, whether in a supermarket in the United States or a vending machine in Asia. Get the full story »
March 23 at 12:00 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
International,
Trade
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
The Food and Drug Administration is banning imports of milk and fresh fruit and vegetables from areas near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Get the full story »
Baked goods at Fox & Obel, May 12, 2008. (Candice C. Cusic/Chicago Tribune)
From Chicago Real Estate Daily | Gourmet grocery store Fox & Obel could face eviction from its Streeterville location after falling more than four months behind on rent. The receiver for the former North Pier Terminal filed a petition in Cook County Circuit Court on Jan. 26 seeking possession of the nearly 22,600-square-foot space occupied by Fox & Obel, alleging the grocer had missed rent payments totaling about $330,600. Get the full story>>
March 22 at 1:39 p.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Packaged foods
By Reuters
Nestle AG , the world’s biggest foodmaker, expects to raise prices by 1.6 percent in 2011, the company chairman said Tuesday, similar to last year’s increase despite soaring raw material costs.
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe told Reuters Insider that the company, which makes Nescafe coffee and Gerber baby food, would spend an extra $3.5 billion on raw materials in 2011, with more than half of that would be absorbed internally. Get the full story »
March 22 at 11:52 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages
By Reuters
After buoyant wine auctions that saw booming sales, most auctioneers believe the only bubbles in the wine market are in the Champagnes poured during the bidding.
Chicago-based wine merchants Hart Davis Hart reaped $4.9 million at its Lafite auction Saturday, reinforcing its image as the most sought-after, top growth Bordeaux. And on the same day New York’s Acker Merrall & Conduit sold $2.3 million at its auction.
“I don’t see prices going anywhere significantly except up,” said John Kapon, its head of auctions. Get the full story »
March 21 at 8:12 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Bethenny Frankel. (Skinnygirl)
Fortune Brands Inc., seeking to capitalize on the emerging market of low-calorie cocktails, has acquired the Skinnygirl brand created by reality-television star Bethenny Frankel.
Fortune’s Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc. unit aims to build on the rapid growth of Skinnygirl Margarita — a bottled cocktail that boasts 100 calories per four-ounce serving — by expanding its distribution and introducing other drinks under the label. Get the full story »
March 21 at 7:55 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Restaurants
From the Chicago Sun-Times | Palatine’s Joe D’Amico on Sunday completed the Los Angeles marathon with a personal best time after eating nothing but McDonald’s fast food for a month. D’Amico said he was not trying to make a political statement and did it because he loves McDonald’s and running and wanted to combine the two.Get the full story>>
