Nonfoods

AUSTIN, Texas -- Leading super-natural retailer Whole Foods Market here yesterday opened a new 55,000-square-foot unit in Belmar, Colo., which, in typical Whole Foods fashion, includes a focus on local and regional foods.

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Leaders from the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) here are hailing a new report released this week by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM), which claimed food and beverage marketing aimed at kids points them to high-calorie, low-nutrient products.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Country Choice Organic, a manufacturer of organic cookies, hot cereal, and oatmeal squares here, has tapped natural/organic industry veteran Jocelyne Greg as East Cost regional manager.

SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--ACNielsen U.S. said yesterday it had completed the expansion of its Homescan consumer panel, the end of a two-year initiative that has more than doubled the size of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry's leading source of consumer and shopper insights.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Ann Simonds was named v.p. and g.m. of General Mills bakery channels, which includes supermarket bakery, bakery ingredients, fresh bread solutions, supercenter and club channels, convenient solutions, and wholesale sweet goods.

WASHINGTON -- A new report released yesterday by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM) here claimed food and beverage marketing aimed at kids points them to high-calorie, low-nutrient products. In the industry's defense, GMA, meanwhile, claimed its members were already doing many things to offer kids healthy choices.

NEW YORK -- Although organic and functional foods have generated a healthy amount of interest in the United States in recent years, these categories still have a lot of room to grow -- especially when compared to other markets around the globe. That's the conclusion of global consumer and marketplace information provider ACNielsen, which released results from a new global online survey yesterday.

SUNBURY, Pa. -- Weis Markets, based here, celebrated the opening of a new superstore in Boonsboro, Md. over the weekend. Earlier this fall the 158-store chain broke ground for a new superstore in nearby Thurmont, Md.