Nonfoods

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.

Whole Foods Market has tapped the University of Maine Cooperative Extension for food preservation advice. The UMaine Extension’s canning and preserving Web site is featured in “This Is What Summer Tastes Like,” a seasonal entertaining guide available nationally in Whole Foods stores.

Sam’s Club’s Hispanic-themed Más Club concept will debut July 2 in Houston, offering a variety of products imported from Latin American countries.

In a bid to provide retailers and consumers with a broad turnkey selection of the freshest, high-quality prepared foods solutions, The Really Cool Foods Co. -- a natural and organic prepared foods pioneer -- and Renaissance Food Group -- a distributor and producer of fresh, value-added fruits and vegetables -- unveiled a merger during this week’s IDDBA show in Atlanta.

Consumer purchasing and usage of personal care products are showing surprising shifts in the United Kingdom, according to Datamonitor. Siddika Jaffer, director of consulting for EMEA Consumer Markets, added that the lipstick theory has been debunked during this recession in the United Kingdom, with a similar pattern emerging in the United States.

Antioxidant Blend combines four fruits -- dried cherries, plums, wild blueberries and cranberries -- that work to prevent or slow the oxidative damage done by free radicals in the body, according to the supplier, Yuba City, Ariz.-based Sunsweet Growers, Inc.

Discount food supermarkets Lidl Stiftung plans to install solar panels on its distribution centers and office buildings throughout Europe to supplement its traditional energy sources.

Whole Foods Market said last week that Lady Moon Farms and Alderman Farms are the first Florida tomato growers to sign agreements with the natural food retailer in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) "penny-per-pound" program, which is designed to boost tomato harvesters’ pay. Both farms are long-term partners of Whole Foods.