Trading Partners

The Hispanic aisle continues to progress as manufacturers target the country's largest minority group.

HERSHEY, Pa., and ROUND LAKE, Minn. - Hershey Foods Corporation and Farley's & Sathers Candy Company Inc. today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of a group of Hershey's gum brands. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Independent auditors for Catalina Marketing Corp. quit after uncovering a series of questionable accounting moves, The St. Petersburg Times reports.

WASHINGTON - The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) on Friday sent a letter to eBay, asking the Internet company to immediately stop the sale or auction of grocery coupons on its Web site, noting that the practice is illegal and many of the coupons may be counterfeit.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- As the latest grocer to respond to a wave of counterfeiting, Harris Teeter says it will no longer accept computer-generated coupons printed from the Internet.

AMSTERDAM -- Shares in Ahold rose today as the market welcomed the news that the company's new chief executive will unveil a new strategy Sept. 4, even before 2002 results are known, to rebuild the shattered confidence of shareholders who saw their investments evaporate in the wake of the accounting scandal, Reuters reports.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich.-- The Associated Food Dealers of Michigan -- the voice of Michigan's food and beverage industry, representing nearly 3,000 retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers -- is calling for $75 million in disaster relief for Michigan's retail food industry in the wake of the recent power outages in the East and Midwest.

CHICAGO -- Parents, not fast-food restaurants, are most responsible for the rise of obesity in American children, according to a new ACNielsen survey.