Trading Partners

BOISE, Idaho -- Albertson's Inc. yesterday received an America's Marketplace Recycles! Award from the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Spartan Stores, the nation's tenth-largest grocer here, has gone live on One Network's appointment scheduling solution, joining such other retailers as Kroger, Safeway, Food Lion, and Hannaford Bros.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Kash n' Karry Food Stores here replaced all the ground beef in its Kash n' Karry and Sweetbay Supermarkets late last week, after one of its meat suppliers, Thomasville, Ga.-based American Fresh Foods, Inc., issued a voluntary recall based on possible E. coli contamination.

CARLISLE, Penn. -- Giant Carlisle, an Ahold-owned grocery chain with 250 customer-driven supermarkets under the Giant Food Stores, Top Markets, and Martin's Food Market names in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, plans to deploy consumer demand management software chain-wide to enhance its merchandising capabilities.

WILTON, Conn. -- Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble topped the "best of the best" in the industry for collaborating with trading partners to best meet consumers' needs, and bolster their own performance, said consultancy Cannondale Associates here, which on Firday released it 2005 PoweRanking Survey.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- The California grocery industry has joined forces with the city government to reduce, reuse, and recycle grocery store checkout bags.

WASHINGTON -- Seven suppliers to Ahold's Columbia, Md.-based U.S. Foodservice division this week surrendered to federal authorities and agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges for helping the company overstate its earnings targets, according to published reports. The men could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine each. The charges were brought by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

CHICAGO --It looks like consumers are demanding even more robust convenience-based products than ever, with attributes such as better nutritional benefits, according to a study released yesterday by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI).