Deli / Prepared Foods

While retailers continue to adjust the scope, product offerings, design, and merchandising of their store perimeters, center store has remained basically unchanged for decades.

After a recent Kellogg Co. survey revealed that consumers don’t know where to find fiber, and mistakenly believe that products containing “whole grain” provide it, the Battle Creek, Mich.-based manufacturer decided to take decisive action. Its solution: FIBER-pe-dia.

As a way to help shoppers stretch their budgets a little further, Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States, has come up with 12 quick and easy recipes that will feed a family of four for less than $10.

Retail buyers and merchandisers converging in Atlanta for the International Dairy·Deli·Bakery Association’s (IDDBA) ongoing Dairy-Deli-Bake ’09 convention and expo that runs through Wednesday are taking an all-encompassing look at a medley of new product introductions showcased in some 1,500 booths.

Bear Naked is expanding its family of premium, all-natural foods to include an original line of ready-to-eat cereals. Bear Naked 100% Pure & Natural Cereal -- available in Cranberry Raisin and Banana Nut varieties -- combines flakes, fruits, nuts and seeds, and granola clusters.

Jeff Noddle, chairman of the board and outgoing CEO of Supervalu, Inc., and Robert E. Rich Jr., chairman of Rich Products Corp. will be recipients of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) 2009 Hall of Achievement Award.

A study of 8,000 people ages 2 to 85 has found that folic acid — or vitamin B9 — may help reduce allergies and asthma, reports Medical News Today.

Recognizing recession-weary consumers are buying more shelf-stable products, Del Monte, General Mills, Kraft and others are focusing their marketing and R&D efforts on the formerly unsexy center of the supermarket.