Ahold Delhaize

The Georgia Food Industry Association (GFIA), which represents the legislative and regulatory interests of over 200 chain and independent retail members operating more than 700 stores, along with 12 wholesale members operating across the state, has named Tom Robinson, VP and COO of Harveys Supermarkets, its chairman.

Belgian international food retailer Delhaize Group plans to buy “a substantial majority” of Bi-Lo’s assets, including associated inventory, for a purchase price of $425 million in cash.

Food Lion, LLC has rolled out its “MVP Free* Turkey” program for Thanksgiving in select markets, enabling shoppers to earn $20 off their next shopping order electronically by using their MVP loyalty cards and spending $45 a visit weekly at Food Lion. Customers must shop six of eight weeks to be eligible for the electronic coupon.

As part of Food Lion, LLC’s continuing “Take A Fresh Look” renewal initiative, the grocer has remodeled 31 stores in the Columbia, S.C., and Florence, S.C., markets, enlarging the offering and improving the overall store shopping experience over a number of months.

Online grocer Peapod is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an anti-hunger campaign to help less fortunate members of the communities it serves. In partnership with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, the Northern Illinois Food Bank, the Skokie, Ill.-based wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Ahold is enlisting Peapod shoppers and employees to contribute canned goods to the hungry, whose numbers have reportedly increased during the economic downturn.

Ahold has nominated Lodewijk Hijmans van den Bergh to its Corporate Executive Board as chief corporate governance counsel, replacing Peter Wakkie, who revealed his plans to retire from the Amsterdam-based retail conglomerate in June.

Guiding Stars, which bills itself as the world’s first store-wide nutrition navigation system, has joined forces with the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Durham to roll out the nutrition-rating system in all of the school’s dining facilities.

The way consumers shop for everyday products continues its transformation toward the Web. In 2008, online retail accounted for approximately 7 percent of total retail sales in the United States, with 1.5 percent of consumer packaged goods (CPG) spending done on the Web.