Pharmacy

The Supermarket Guru peers deep into his crystal ball to see what trends this coming year will bring for the food industry.

Pittsburgh’s grocery scene became a lot larger today with the long awaited unveiling of Giant Eagle’s 150,000-square-foot flagship Market District destination store in the new Settlers Ridge lifestyle shopping center in Robinson Township.

Store brands have built momentum during the recession. Will consumers stick with private label frozen when better days arrive? Or will they return to the national brands they used previously?

New York-based ScanAvert (www.scanavert.com) launched its ScanAvert mobile application — which can be used on iPhones and select mobile phones — to give consumers a means of detecting harmful or specified ingredients in food, beverages, and OTC drug products, supplements or vitamins that may cause an undesired reaction or unhealthy consumption, on a real-time automated basis, in any place where those items are sold, prepared, or served.

The Natural Products Association (NPA), the oldest and largest trade association for the natural products industry, has appointed John F. Gay its executive director and CEO.

POM Wonderful’s pomegranate harvest is currently under way, which means that grocers can showcase the seasonal fruit in stores from now until January.

According to its maker, The Healthy Beverage Co., the Steaz Zero Calorie Sparkling Green Tea product line is the first certified-organic, all-natural zero-calorie carbonated soft drink on the market.

According to the “Beverage Trends: Culinary Trend Mapping Report” from the San Francisco-based Center for Culinary Development and Rockville, Md.-based Packaged Facts, the sweet spot in the U.S. beverage market, long dominated by a handful of major brand lines, is shifting to niche products that target a diverse set of consumer needs driven by healthy attributes.