Nonfoods

Legislation has been introduced in both the New York state senate and assembly to allow wine in grocery stores, after a similar proposal was cut from the state budget last spring amid complaints from liquor store owners, according to published reports.

Eight organizations, including the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFI) and the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH), were awarded the Pioneering Innovation Award at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Weight of the Nation Conference in Washington, D.C. The organizations were recognized for their work in advancing policies and environmental strategies to combat obesity.

Fry’s Food Stores president Jon Flora will be among three industry executives honored by the Phoenix-based Arizona Food Marketing Alliance (AFMA) during its annual Excellence in Leadership Awards banquet to be held Nov. 20, 2009 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel.

Gary Hawkins, CEO of Syracuse, N.Y.-based independent Green Hills Market and founder/CEO of retail technology consultancy Hawkins Strategic, will be a featured speaker for The L.E.A.D. Marketing Conference, to be held in Chicago Oct. 5 to Oct. 7, and will discuss the current consumer-focused retail ecosystem and how retailers can boost their relevance as part of it.

The middle of summer marks the beginning of the back-to-school (BTS) season, as parents and kids across the country start to prepare to return to classrooms in late August and early September. The excitement of school starting isn’t just felt by the kids -- retailers also look forward to the season, as it’s an incredibly important time for the $2.5 billion office/school supplies category. Additionally, with the economy mired in a steep recession this season, the BTS season will be closely watched for signs of a recovery in spending. Half of annual unit sales of some related products occur during the BTS period, accounting for 36 percent to 38 percent of annual revenue.

It was only in April that Ashton Kutcher (http://twitter.com/aplusk) and CNN (http://twitter.com/cnnbrk) were neck and neck in their race to reach 1 million followers in Twitter. Now, they’ve each passed 2 million, and more than two dozen twitter accounts have more than a million followers.

Sara Lee North American Fresh Bakery, maker of Sara Lee Soft & Smooth bread and bun line, recently brought together 13 mom bloggers for the first-ever Sara Lee® Soft & Smooth™ Back-to-School Nutrition Summit at the Kitchens of Sara Lee in Downers Grove, Ill.

According to Los Angeles-based industry research firm IBISWorld, which investigated grocery costs in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago to gauge consumer spending across the United States, Chicago’s prices were the cheapest on average for all food-brand categories (store, commercial and organic) of the three analyzed regions, coming in at $115.73. Los Angeles was the most expensive, at $124.43, while New York was a bit cheaper, at $122.66.