Trading Partners

The recession has prompted consumers around the world to re-evaluate what’s important to them. Issues such as the economy, job security and other topics related to finances are top of mind for most people and, as a result, issues such as the environment have fallen.

They may not always eat what’s good for them, but children are aware of what they should be eating.

Whole Foods Market and Chef Ann Cooper, America’s “Renegade Lunch Lady,” have teamed up to remake school lunches with the “School Lunch Revolution” campaign.

Perfect for the health-conscious shopper, Pomegranate Splash! Reduction Sauces are brewed using a “microblend” process, in which a wine-and-natural-fruit combination maximizes overall health benefits.

The Kentucky Grocers Association inducted Bill Remke, president and CEO of Remke Markets, Inc., into its Hall of Fame July 23 for his lifetime contribution to the state’s grocery industry.

Smart Floss® is debuting a biodegradable dispenser, a move the product’s manufacturer, Honolulu-based Dr. Tung’s Products, thinks will be good for sales as well as the earth. “Until now, if someone tosses their empty floss dispenser into the garbage, it takes up to 100 years to degrade,” said Dr. Tung’s CEO Colin Davis. “Using leading-edge technology, our new containers turn into food for microbes -- they become biomass within only one to five years … [N]ow [the item] is better both for [consumers] and for the environment.”

Advertisers are aiming to reach the value-minded consumer with creative advertising executions that deliver recession-themed messaging. Nielsen IAG examined 67 value-themed ads across 11 national advertisers and found that breakthrough retention rates were not as expected.

In the latest example of the food industry’s close attention to health-and-wellness issues affecting consumers, the “Smart Choices Program” made its official debut yesterday, its green check mark symbol now appearing on of hundreds of products in supermarkets and other retailers across the United States.