Deli / Prepared Foods

UNITED KINGDOM -- In a move that U.S. retailers may likely copy, Wal-Mart-owned Asda in the United Kingdom said it is removing salt from its entire range of canned vegetables. As a result, customers will consume 168 metric tons less salt each year.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company here is expanding and renovating its supermarket at The Plaza at Shelter Cove shopping center in Hilton Head, a popular resort area in coastal South Carolina, to keep up with its customers' upscale tastes.

From HEB to Publix and beyond, the grocers most committed to Hispanics are learning not to get lost in the translation.

With an emphasis on good nutrition, innovative products, and savvy merchandising, retailers and manufacturers of natural/organic branded and private label RTE cereals are proving that health sells.

SALISBURY, N.C. -- Food Lion asked, and Bloom shoppers have answered: We want more fresh foods.

NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Vitasti, Inc., based here, a food company specializing in the health-and-wellness sector, has developed a new line of vitamin-rich granola with an antioxidant supplement and a hip new featured ingredient -- the acai berry. Harvested in the Brazilian rainforest and touted by the media as "nature's perfect food," the acai (pronounced "AH-sci-EE") has been used for thousands of years by Brazil's indigenous peoples, who attribute various healing and nutritional properties to the fruit.

SAN ANTONIO -- Central Market, the successful gourmet spinoff of H.E. Butt Grocery Co. here, continues to build a distinctive own-brand franchise for its seven Texas stores. The retailer last week brought shoppers up to date in its e-mail newsletter, touting an armload of products bearing the CM private label.

While snacks, beer, and soft drinks score biggest for Super Bowl, retailers can gain yardage with many nontraditional products, too.