SCHAUMBURG, Ill. - ACNielsen U.S. has found the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index to be a good predictor of future changes in consumer purchasing of food, health and beauty aids, and non-food consumer packaged goods (CPG).
LONDON - Safeway Plc, Britain's fourth-biggest food retailer, today posted Christmas sales that fell at the bottom of analysts' expectations, raising concerns it may be falling behind in the UK supermarket sector, Reuters reports.
WASHINGTON - When it comes to value, American consumers believe food offers the biggest bang for their buck, according to a new survey conducted by the polling company for the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA).
WASHINGTON - Plantings of genetically engineered crops across the globe increased nearly 20 percent last year despite resistance of consumers in Europe and elsewhere, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, The Associated Press reports.
COLUMBUS - Online holiday shopping activity grew in 2001, according to preliminary results from consulting and market research firm Retail Forward's most recent survey of Internet users.
WASHINGTON - The nation's unemployment rate reached 5.8 percent in December, highest in more than six years, The Associated Press reports. Businesses cut 124,000 jobs, 77,000 of which were retail.
NEW YORK - Poor neighborhoods have fewer supermarkets and food service offerings than wealthier areas, according to a study by the US Environmental Protection Agency that was recently published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Reuters reports.
