Nonfoods

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc. (A&P) today introduced “Red Tag Online Savings,” which the grocer said is the first paperless and completely digital coupon service offered by a supermarket chain in the metropolitan New York area.

Smart Floss® is debuting a biodegradable dispenser, a move the product’s manufacturer, Honolulu-based Dr. Tung’s Products, thinks will be good for sales as well as the earth. “Until now, if someone tosses their empty floss dispenser into the garbage, it takes up to 100 years to degrade,” said Dr. Tung’s CEO Colin Davis. “Using leading-edge technology, our new containers turn into food for microbes -- they become biomass within only one to five years … [N]ow [the item] is better both for [consumers] and for the environment.”

To accommodate children with peanut allergies and schools and child care facilities with strict rules against bringing peanut products as lunch or snacks, Loblaw Cos., Ltd. is spotlighting new and existing peanut-free items under its President’s Choice and no name brands.

In the latest example of the food industry’s close attention to health-and-wellness issues affecting consumers, the “Smart Choices Program” made its official debut yesterday, its green check mark symbol now appearing on of hundreds of products in supermarkets and other retailers across the United States.

Thanks to the consciousness-raising film “An Inconvenient Truth” and the Live Earth concert series, global awareness of environmental issues has increased, prompting attitudinal changes, but consumer behavior at retail is changing more slowly. In many cases, “green” concerns are the unwitting beneficiaries of tough financial times as people drive less and rediscover the versatility of leftovers.

Advertisers are aiming to reach the value-minded consumer with creative advertising executions that deliver recession-themed messaging. Nielsen IAG examined 67 value-themed ads across 11 national advertisers and found that breakthrough retention rates were not as expected.

Sunflower Farmers Market will open its first store in Santa Fe, N.M., on Aug. 12 -- its fourth New Mexico store -- and plans further expansion in the state next year.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell has designated August “Produce Month,” in honor of the considerable health and economic benefits of the state’s more than $200 million fruit and vegetable industries.