Dick Bestany

The Safeway Foundation presented grants totaling nearly $105,000 to approximately 40 Mid-Atlantic region non-profit agencies during a recent ceremony at Safeway’s Eastern division headquarters. Included among the recipients are the Alzheimer’s Association (National Capital Area), the Arthritis Foundation of the Mid-Atlantic Region, Bread for the City, the Food 4 Families Fund, the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia, the Maryland Food Bank, the Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care, Neediest Kids, Cooperation Peanut Butter and Jelly, Rob’s Barbershop Community Foundation and

the St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families. (A complete list of the charities included can be obtained by contacting Greg TenEyck at (301) 918-7077 or Craig Muckle at 301-918-6803.)

Safeway established the foundation to assist deserving charitable organizations with their work or special projects in a much more comprehensive manner. fhe Foundation’s resources are provided through annual employee payroll deductions with staff members designating the amount they wish to contribute during an annual pledge campaign. Funding decisions made by the foundation’s board are influenced by Safeway’s contributing employees, who are asked during the campaign which causes they wish to see supported (i.e., hunger relief, health and human services, education, special needs and local community).

Each Safeway division operates and manages its own foundation. As a result, all monies donated by Eastern division employees will be distributed solely to non-profit groups located in the division’s territory of Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Delaware.

Mark your calendars for the 9th Annual Dinner Dance as the Mid-Atlantic Food Trades Organization honors Rick Herring, president of Giant/Carlisle November 1-3, at Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City. For more information visit the MAFTO reservation site http://mafto.org

We received a nice note from a former food broker Ron Fish (The Joseph Riley Company) who for the past eight years has been and today still is president of Reading Consumer Products in Reading, PA. Ron was a 23 year employee at The Joseph Riley Company, a large Mid-Atlantic Food Brokerage headquartered in Philadelphia. Ron is still on the PFMA Board of Directors and keeps in touch with many of the food people in the area.

If you’d like to contact Ron, his address is: Ron Fish, President, Reading Consumer Products, 80 Witman Road, Reading, PA19605 and his e-mail is [email protected]

Sincere sympathy is extended to Deborah Michalski, companion of former Giant/Landover buyer Tony Street, on the recent death of her father, Eugene Michalski.

Mr. Michalski was a U.S. Navy World War II veteran and taught science and biology in the Detroit, Michigan public school system. He ended his career as an elementary school principal. He had a master’s degree and had done some PhD course work at EasternUniversity in Michigan.

The Ahold USA annual vendor meeting originally scheduled for October 29 has been changed to Tuesday, March 11, 2014. The location will still be the GiantCenter in Hershey, PA.

MOM’s Organic Market will open a 15,000-square-foot store at the RotundaShopping Center in North Baltimore. MOM’s, the Rockville, MD based grocer, has long been considered the front-runner to replace Giant at the Rotunda.

The Rotunda is currently being redeveloped by Hekemian & Co. to include luxury apartments, shops and restaurants. An opening date was not released.

Here’s good news: the maker of Little Debbie cakes announced it will expand its snack line by bringing back the 125-year-old Drake’s cakes brand to store shelves.

McKee Foods Corp. announced last month it will start shipping Drake’s most popular varieties –Devil Dogs, Coffee Cakes, Ring Dings and Yodels – to grocery and convenience stores in the Northeast.

The return of Drake’s snacks comes two months after Hostess’s best known brand, the Twinkie, returned to store shelves by investment firm Metropoulus & Co., which bought the Twinkie brand in March.

We were saddened to learn last month of the death of Daniel “Bud” Roche, who founded the Roche Chain (Roche Bros.) in the Boston, MA area along with his brother Pat, who died last year.

The two formed Roche Bros. in 1952 with a loan from their parents. Today they operate 18 very successful stores. Jeff and I knew both Bud and Pat from our days in Boston and both were on Food World’s mailing list.

Here’s a worthwhile event: the 8th Annual Oktoberfest fundraiser for the USO-Metro will bring together corporate sponsors, donors, volunteers, and military personnel and their families in an evening of food and fun. The buffet dinner and dance will be held Friday, October 18, 2013 at The Four Points by SheratonBWIAirport.

Live music and a silent auction are all part of the fun. Proceeds from this event support the complimentary amenities and services enjoyed by the guests of the USO International Gateway Lounge at BWIAirport, the U.S. Armed Forces and their families, many of whom are returning state-side from deployment or are being deployed. Amenities and services include United Through Reading program, electronics, games, food items and toiletries. For more information contact John Plumhoff at (410)-962-6009.

For those readers who might be fall foliage travelers to New England, I found a great Italian restaurant in East Longmeadow, MA. Patsy’s Ristorante, owned since 1981 by the Liguori family, serves some of the best Italian fare I have had since the days of Boccacio in Little Italy.

If any of our readers are involved in any charitable or religious organization and would like their events published in Food World, please e-mail to [email protected] or office @best-met.com Attn: In and Around Food World.

Everyone in the entire Mid-Atlantic food industry was saddened to learn last month of the death of Children’s Cancer Foundation founder and president Shirley B. Howard. Shirley Brager Howard was a former TV personality who, with her late husband Bill, founded the Children’s Cancer Foundation and went on to raise millions of dollars to help children suffering from cancer.

She worked very closely with Dr. Benjamin Carson, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, who had been director of pediatric neurosurgery at JohnsHopkinsHospital.

Shirley and her husband, a veteran showman and businessman, founded the Children’s Cancer Foundation in the basement of their Pikesville, MD home. Working very closely with the Mid-Atlantic food industry, they established an annual celebrity ball which raised millions over the years. The couple worked 12 to 15 hours a day fundraising.

According to their daughter Diane Perry, who worked with Shirley and now is the foundation’s diretor, the Children’s Cancer Foundation raised and dispersed more than $33 million during the past 29 years.

“Over the past 30 years, Shirley Howard, through the Children’s Cancer Foundation, has changed the face of childhood cancer,” said Diane. “When she began fundraising, the diagnosis of cancer was a death sentence for children. Then only one in ten survived the dreaded disease. Now over eight in 10 are surviving.”

“She also helped launch the careers of many cancer researchers,” said Dr. Carson,  “Shirley was a tremendous example of what one individual can do when they have passion. The story is one that should interest anyone who sits around and says, ‘What can I do?”

He added: “Thousands of children’s lives have been saved because of the research sponsored by her foundation. The amount of good that she did is impossible to estimate.”

Through their annual ball, an “anything-a-thon,” and working with the food industry, they disbursed to such institutions as JohnsHopkinsHospital, the University of

Maryland Medical Center, the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Uniformed Services University, Sinai Hospital and the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington. The couple also built the Children’s Inn on the NIH campus for ill children and their families.

In 2009, Shirley was presented the Impact One Award from the Maryland Chapter of the Association of Professional Fundraisers. She also received the Champion Pediatric Research Award, which was presented to her in a ceremony at the RayburnBuilding on Capitol Hill.

She was honored as Maryland’s Outstanding Older Worker by Experience Works in 2004 and was inducted into the Maryland Senior Hall of Fame last year.

In looking back over her life’s work, Shirley often said, “We pray for the day when we will hear children and adults’ laughter, and no longer have to hear their cries of pain.”

Shirley was a Baltimore native. She will be missed by all in the Mid-Atlantic food industry.

We also learned recently of the death of Joseph Unanue, former president of Goya Foods. Under his and his brother Frank’s leadership, the company grew from a regional food company to a global brand with 15 manufacturing and distribution facilities world wide. He began working at Goya in 1952 and served as president of Goya Foods Inc. from 1976 to 2004.

We also report on the death of Joseph H. McCarthy, former executive VP and COO of A&P , who also died recently. Joe began his career with FINAST (First National Stores) in Boston where he rose to a senior vice president. From 1977 to 1981 he was regional vice president of Grand Union Co. and in 1981 he joined A&P as Senior VP of the Metro Group and COO for United States and Canada. He also served in World War II and in the Korean conflict. He was 91.

Giant/Landover recently presented $87,282 and 16,000 healthy snack packs to the USO of Metropolitan Washington as a result of its March in-store giving campaign. Giant teamed up with USO-Metro for a third year, during the neighborhood grocer’s first-ever Military Appreciation Month, to support military families across the region.

And speaking of Giant, the company recently announced in partnership with its sister company Peapod, the leading internet grocer, that it has open 20 Giant Pick-up locations since April, including two newly opened locations at neighborhood Giant stores in Bowie, MD and Sterling, VA. In addition, the nation’s capital grocer recently opened a Giant pick-up and Giant fuel station hybrid facility located at 8500 Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase, MD.

NECCO (New England Confectionery Co.) of Revere, MA. has selected E. A. Berg Associates of Paramus, NJ to represent its products in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. E.A. Berg also represents NECCO in the Metro New York and New Jersey markets.

E.A. Berg will coordinate sales of all NECCO brands, including NECCO Wafers, Mary Jane Chews, Clark Bars, Skybars, Mighty Malts, Slap Stix and Candy Buttons.

Phusion Projects LLC announced that it has expanded its relationship with Advantage Sales and Marketing. Phusion is the first alcohol company to collaborate nationally with ASM, which will promote the company’s Four Loko, Island Squeeze and Moskato Life brands.

Mark your calendars for September 25-28, when the Natural Products Expo East will be held at the BaltimoreConvention Center. Natural Products Expo East 2012 was one of the most vibrant and exciting trade shows the East Coast has ever seen in the natural, organic and healthy lifestyle industry. 2013 promises to be bigger and better than ever before. One of the many interesting pavilions will be The NEXT New Products Pavilion (sponsored by Sterling Rice Group) where you will find hundreds of new products and first-time exhibitors. This will be a chance for food people to meet the people behind the brands, and learn about the hottest products to stock your shelves with. For more information visit expoeast.com.

Harris Teeter donated 28,725 pounds of peaches as part of the “Peaches with a Purpose” program created by South Carolina peach grower Titan Farms. For four weeks in July and August, Harris Teeter donated a percentage of the peaches sold in stores in North and South Carolina. The peaches went to Second Harvest Food Banks in Charlotte and in Winston Salem, NC.

Weis Markets has donated $15,000 to local charities during the opening ceremony for its newest New Jersey store. The $7 million, 55,000- square-foot super market boasts advanced technology to reduce refrigerant usage by 60 percent. It is open 24 hours and is staffed by 250 full- and part-time employees.

Happy birthday wishes to my grandson, Samuel James Bestany, who turned nine, and happy anniversary wishes to his parents, Stephanie and Rick Bestany, Allegian Systems, their 13th.

If any of our readers would like to have their or their family’s birthdays and/or anniversaries published, please E-mail us at [email protected] or send it to us at: In and Around Food World, 5537 Twin Knolls Rd. Columbia, MD.

As is the case in past years, things seem to quiet down in the food industry in the Mid-Atlantic during the summer season. It’s still a very lively industry but because of vacations and summer travel, things seem to go a bit slower.

The Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program board of directors recently elected officers for the 2013 term, welcomed new members, and recognized members for years of service. Vernon Horst of Chambersburg, PA was re-elected chairman of Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, and Harold Shaulis of Somerset, PA was re-elected chairman of Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program. Also re-elected as Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association officers were: Joyce Bupp, Seven Valleys, PA, vice chair; Jeff Moore, Centerville, MD, secretary; and Jerrel HeatwoleGreenwood, DE, treasurer.

Several Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program board members received service awards.

Recognized for 20 years of service were Harold Shaulis, Somerset; Bertha Ackerson, Marion Center; Harold Bailey, Roaring Spring; and Randall Meabon, Wattsburg. Rita Kennedy, Valencia, and Richard Waybright, Gettysburg, were recognized for 15 years of service to the board. Also receiving recognition from Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program were Christine Cooney of Spartansburg and Lolly Lesher of Bernville, who have served on the board of directors for 10 years. Bruce Bartley of Cogan Station and James Warburton of New Albany were recognized for 5]five years of service.

Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association board of directors recognized Jeff Moore of Centerville, MD for 10 years of service.

Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program are the local planning and management organizations funded by dairy farmer check-off dollars. They work closely with Dairy Management Inc. and are responsible for increasing demand for dairy products on behalf of Mid-Atlantic dairy farmers through consumer education and food service partnerships. For more information, visit www.dairyspot.com.

Safeway is one of 15 companies – and the only retailer – selected to receive the 2013 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, given to employers for exceptional support of National Guard and Reserve employees.

Safeway is one of six large companies to receive the Freedom Award. Nine other award recipients are small to mid-sized businesses or public-sector employers. The recipients, who came from a pool of nearly 3,000 nominated private and public sector employers, were selected for having programs and policies aimed at hiring members of the National Guard and Reserve.

Wal-Mart is the first national grocery chain to require suppliers to comply with Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards. GFSI requires food suppliers to complete factory audit certifications against internationally recognized benchmarks. The result to Wal-Mart has been a 34 percent reduction in the number of recalls, which in turn reduces risk and increases consumer confidence.

Ed Sherwin of Sherwin Food Safety has many new clients. The latest to sign up with Ed are: Hill Country Barbecue Market, Washington, DC; Pure Chocolate by Jinji, Baltimore, MD; Roti Mediterranean Grill, Chicago, IL; Embassy Suites Tremont Plaza, Baltimore, MD; Stuggy’s Old Fashioned Hot Dogs, Fells Point, MD; Dooby’s Coffee, Baltimore, MD; and Conrad’s Crabs of Jacksonville, MD.

Congratulations to Weis Markets on receiving the Silver Award in the 25th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, for developing the industry’s first closed-loop 100 percent recyclable modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) meat trays made from recycled plastics. The trays were developed in partnership with Clearly Clean Products, which specializes in custom thermoformed packaging solutions.

Outback Steakhouse and Panera Bread are tops among U.S. restaurant/food service brands when it comes to responding to the needs of their customers, according to a new Customer Centricity Index (CCI) from Dunnhumby, which analyzes and distills insights from more than 400 million customers world wide for retailer clients.

Dunnhumby’s new CCI weighs U.S. customers’ perceptions of retailers against seven “pillars” or primary business areas most critical to achieving long-term customer-centricity (experience, loyalty, communications, assortment, promotions, price and feedback), to help retailers understand where and how they can improve.

The results of Dunnhumby’s first CCI report, focused on the restaurant/food service sector, confirm the companies with higher CCI scores also tend to have higher long-term comparable sales growth over a two-year period.

Sincere sympathy is extended to the family of Joseph Unanue, former president of Goya Foods who passed away last month at his home in Alpine, NJ.

“Supermarket Superstar,” Lifetime’s all-new competition series, gives everyday Americans the chance to prove they have the next great product consumers will love.

Hosted by Stacy Keibler, Supermarket Superstar gives undiscovered food entrepreneurs their chance to shine among the big brands in the highly competitive food industry. This is the first food competition show that provides a platform for individuals that can change the way millions of Americans shop and eat, according to a news release.

Each one-hour episode of Supermarket Superstar follows three home chefs as they pitch their product concepts to titans of the food world for the opportunity to have their creation launched nationally in a major grocery chain.

Chef, vintner, TV host and specialty foods pioneer Michael Chiarello, cookie mogul Debbi Fields of Mrs. Fields Cookies and branding expert and food product visionary Chris Cronyn serve as the series’ mentors to share their expertise with the contestants as they prepare their products for mass production. With the help of Chiarello and research and development chef Andrew Hunter, the hopefuls must refine and perfect their recipes to impress targeted focus groups of real-life consumers to make it to the checkout line.

(This writer feels that without the aid of a good food broker, they’ll never make it to a supermarket shelf.)

On a personal note, all of us at Best-Met Publishing, Food World and Food Trade News, were saddened to learn of the death of Lou Rosenthal. Lou had been a very important part of the sales team at Best-Met Publishing and all of us truly enjoyed working with him. He had spent his entire working career in some sort of sales – mostly door to door or company to company. His last job, before joining Food World and Food Trade News was with Entenmann’s Bakery where he retired from. Of course, retirement was not for Lou, and we persuaded him to come to work – whenever he felt like it – at Best-Met Publishing selling space in Food World and Food Trade News.

He loved it. And he was a part of our company up until it was no longer possible for him to come in to the office. He was a wonderful man who was full of stories of “the good old days” when he would drive from house to house selling the wares of whatever company he represented at the time. He was very successful, but his stories of those house to house calls were hilarious. He loved to be kidded and he loved to kid. Lou was 91. He will be missed.

I’m closing on a very personal note, Kathy and I are very proud of our two grandsons, Richard John Bestany III and Samuel James Bestany, who attend TrinitySchool in Illchester, MD. Both received end of the year recognition awards .

If any of our readers would like to have their children or grand children recognized in Food World, please send me an e-mail with all the details to: [email protected] or drop me a line at: Food World, 5537 Twin Knolls Rd. Columbia, MD 21045. We will be happy to include them in future issues.

Bright Farms, New York, announced that it is building a 100,000-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse in Ward 8 in the District of Columbia that will grow enough crops to meet the fresh vegetable consumption needs of up to 5,000 residents in what is considered a “food desert” area lacking close access to fresh foods.

The greenhouse will grow up to 1 million pounds of local produce per year, including tomatoes, lettuces, and herbs for an area retailer, said Kate Siskel, marketing and media relations manager, Bright Farms. It will be built in partnership with the D.C. Department of General Services (DGS), acting on behalf of Mayor Vincent C. Gray and supporting the mayor’s Sustainable D.C. Program, which seeks to dramatically expand food production and healthy food access within the city.

Doris Schnuck, whose family grocery business has grown to one of the largest privately held companies in St. Louis, died last month at age 88 at her home in Clayton, MO, the St. Louis Business Journal reported. Mrs. Schnuck, the wife of the late Donald O. Schnuck, had been in failing health, Schnuck Markets spokeswoman Lori Willis reported.

Donald Schnuck died in 1991 at age 69. He was one of three children of Edwin H. Schnuck and his wife, who began the family business in 1937 as a wholesale meat company. Donald and Doris married in 1944. The four families had opened seven retail stores by 1947, according to Journal reports.

Schnuck Markets had grown to $2.5 billion in revenue last year, with more than 10,900 of its total 14,800 employees based in the St. Louis area. Don and Doris Schnuck’s six children now run the business, the Journal says.

The Children’s Garden at MissouriBotanical Garden is named for Mrs. Schnuck, who also supported the St. Louis Zoo, DonaldDanforthPlantScienceCenter and Children’s Tumor Foundation.

Weis Markets, knowing that most children love a mystery, developed a program that teaches youngsters about eating healthier, even as they’re absorbed in solving a “mystery.”

The chain’s proprietary Mystery Tours send second, third and fourth graders into the produce aisle and other parts of the store searching for clues to solve The Case of the Missing Energy.

The program has captivated thousands of kids—and their parents and teachers—in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Maryland, officials say. “Our mission with the Mystery Tours is to combat childhood obesity through education,” according to Karen Buch, registered dietitian and Weis’s Director of Lifestyle Initiatives. “The program brings children and their families into our stores for a real-world educational experience.”

Weis has taken big measures to make the tours attractive to youngsters, decking out each kid as a detective. They’re given neon hats, spyglasses, writing pads so they can take notes, and detective badge patches. At the end of the tour, they receive a certificate indicating they’ve solved the mystery.

The mystery program features the fictitious character Energetic George, who has lost his energy but doesn’t know why. The children are charged with finding out what happened to George’s energy. Is it because he doesn’t eat red peppers? Or broccoli? Or red meat? Or drink enough milk?

During the course of the tour, the kids learn about different vegetables and how important their color is related to the energy-giving nutrients they contain. They also learn what a serving size is. Produce plays a huge role in the tour, then they go to meat and dairy departments, and to grains, and then to the beverage department. There they are told how important plain water is, and that they should not choose real sugary beverages.

A college professor from Keystone College brought his psychology students in for the tour, a Weis spokesperson told Food World.

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) said it named Redner’s Markets, as one of the inaugural winners of The Gold Plate Award for promoting family meals. At Redner’s, which won in the small-chain category (fewer than 50 stores), a registered dietitian coordinates the chain’s HealthCents program, which includes a bi-monthly health and wellness newsletter, weekly informative circular ads, and a merchandised “better for you” end cap in all stores.

At the recent FMI Financial Executive Conference held in San Antonio, TX, a Food Retailing Financial and Business Review was released which found that same-store sales increases in the industry averaged 1.6 percent in 2012, excluding fuel. The average was 2.3 percent including fuel.

However, the report noted that 72  percent of companies reported sales gains below the preliminary rate of food-at-home inflation of 2.6 percent.

Retailers with more than 50 stores fared much better on average than smaller operators, with average same-store sales gains of 3.9 percent vs. 0.9 percent gains for those with 50 stores or fewer. Average weekly sales per store totaled $347, 814.

Looking ahead, the same report found that 78 percent of food retailers expect their total sales to improve in 2013, and 63 percent expect an improvement in net income.

The report, based on data compiled by 210 Analytics from 66 food retailers, also covered a range of other financial topics, including profitability, staffing levels, shrink and capital expenditures.

Among other findings, almost all respondents –96 percent–said they expect health care reform to increase their expenses in 2012, and 88 percent said they expect the Affordable Care Act to increase their expenses in 2013.

Data-standards organization GS1 said it presented its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Awards to Danny Wegman, chief executive officer of Wegmans Food Markets, and Tim Smucker, chairman of The J.M. Smucker Co. The awards were presented at the GS1 General Assembly and Global Leadership Summit.

Wegman is a former chairman of the GS1 US Board of Governors as well as the GS1 management board, and he has been a strong advocate of GS1 standards and data synchronization, fostering collaboration between manufacturers and retailers, GS1 said.

A former member of the GS1 US Board of Governors, Smucker currently is vice chairman and chairman emeritus of the GS1 management board, continuing his 40-year effort to drive supply chain innovation and advocate for more widespread adoption of GS1 standards, most recently in the area of financial services.

Coming up on Wednesday, June 19 at the Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel in Silver Spring will be the Mid-Atlantic Spring Network Event of the Network of Executive Women (NEW). The keynote speaker at this event will be Becky Halstead, Brigadier General, U.S. Army, retired,  and founder of STEADFAST Leadership LLC.

She will address “…how best to train and develop a high-performing, complex and diverse team.”

On June 5, The Foundation Fighting Blindness held its Visionary Awards Dinner benefiting the Foundation Fighting Blindness at Baltimore’s elegant Center Club. The honorees were State Senator Francis X. Kelly Jr. and his wife Janet, who have been married for more than 50 years and have operated Kelly & Associates, a successful insurance company since 1976. Among their many individual accomplishments, Janet plays leadership roles in charitable organizations and Frank was a state senator for 12 years.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness was established in 1971 to drive the research that would provide preventions, treatments and cures for diseases leading to such hardships. Very little was known about retinal diseases then, but over the past 42 years, thanks to efforts of the Foundation Fighting Blindness more than $500 million has been raised for research. Harriet and David Finkelstein (Kluge, Finkelstein & Company) were the first to recognize the need for the foundation and they hosted the first Visionary Awards Dinner in Baltimore in 1971. Thanks to the efforts of David and Harriet locally, and the generosity of many in the food industry nationally, researchers have a deep understanding of the causes of retinal diseases and how they might be treated. Today, several Foundation-supported clinical trials for potential treatments using gene therapy, pharmaceuticals and stem cells are underway. Recently the FDA granted approval of a “bionic retina’ the Foundation had a hand in funding during its development.

Some of the honorees that have been honored by the Foundation over the years include: John Kluge, 1985, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 2001; Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, 1983; T. Boone Pickens, 2008; and J. Willard Marriott, 2010.

Thanks to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, no one with a retinal degenerative disease ever needs to be alone or uninformed. The Foundation has a national network of volunteer groups that raise funds and increase public awareness of this disease.

Among some of the exciting events planned this year locally are: Visions 2013, June 27- 30, Baltimore Marriott Waterfront; Montgomery County VisionWalk, September 22, Rockville Town Square; and the Richmond VisionWalk, September 28, Innsbrook North Shore Commons.

If you’re interested in learning more about what Foundation Fighting Blindness is doing in the Mid-Atlantic region, call (410) 423-0600 or visit www.FightBlindness.org.

Clyde’s of Columbia, the favorite watering and meeting place for “food” people, has re-opened after being closed for several months for renovations. While it retains the comfortable atmosphere, it now is the classiest place outside of New York. The next chance you get to entertain or be entertained I would highly recommend Clyde’s of Columbia. It has been, and is again, my favorite “watering hole”!

Congratulations to Rosalie Marfuggi, daughter of Food Trade News’ vice president and general manager, Maria Maggio, on her graduation from the University of the Arts with a bachelor of music degree. Maria tells us to look for her name in the coming months at local and New York jazz venues.

Congratulations to Kathy’s and my daughter, Cyndi Ireland, who was promoted to vice president of Coca-Cola Refreshments CVS Team.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to: Ciao Bella’s Micky Parsons; H&S Bakery’s J.R. Paterakis; Food World’s Beth Pripstein, Terri Maloney and Jeff Metzger; Coca-Cola Refreshments’ Cyndi Ireland and to my granddaughter, Kathryn Dougherty Ireland, who will be celebrating her 7th!

All of us at Best-Met Publishing were saddened to learn last month of the death of James E. Kinney, of Northampton Township, PA. Many of our longtime readers will remember Jim as the man who ran our Pennsylvania paper, Food Trade News, for many years.

Jim was an avid golfer and loved the game. A member of Spring Mill Country Club, he played well into his 70s. According to his daughter, Carolyn K. DuMont, he had English friends who came to Bucks County to golf. He also traveled to England to golf with them. She called it a “golfing brotherhood.” He was also very active in local politics having served for 24 years as Republican supervisor in his township.

During his tenure as general manager of Food Trade News, Jim increased the visibility of the paper as well as the advertising revenue. He attended all of the many affairs and meetings of food industry clubs and associations. He was known as “Mr. Food Trade News” in the markets served by the paper. He never missed a meeting or a social event and was always present with camera to record the event.

In addition to his daughter, he is survived by his wife of 56 years, Joan, sons James Jr. and Robert, and three granddaughters. Contributions can be made in his name to the American Cancer Society, 1626 Locust St.., Philadelphia, PA 19103.

In retailer news, six recently built Ahold USA stores have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the national accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance sustainable buildings. This latest round of certifications gives Ahold USA the largest fleet of LEED-certified stores among U.S. grocery retailers. The stores include: a Burtonsville, MD, location operated by the Giant/Landover division; a Trexlertown, PA, location operated by the Giant/Carlisle division; Cranston, RI and Roslindale, MA locations operated by the Stop & Shop New England division; and a Arverne, NY Shop location operated by the Stop & Shop New York Metro division. These stores feature white roofs to reflect sunlight and reduce heat gain in the stores, skylights to harvest daylight and lower electricity consumption during peak daylight hours and LED lighting throughout. To date, the company has 56 stores that have achieved LEED certification for existing buildings.

Ahold USA will also soon introduce a dairy cooler for new products topped by a promotional digital screen at its Giant/Landover and Giant/Carlisle stores following the deployment of a similar freezer for frozen foods.

The Dairy 1st cooler and the Frozen 1st freezer are supplied by 3 Feet Media of Atlanta. Both are used to introduce new products with the help of high-definition digital advertising. The Frozen 1st equipment has been in place at more than 500 Ahold USA stores for five years. Products displayed in Frozen 1st achieved higher initial sales, according to 3 Feet Media. 3 Feet Media said the Dairy 1st deployment would “double its presence” at Ahold USA.

From the manufacturer side of the world of food comes news that Snyder’s of Hanover used the 30th anniversary of National Pretzel Day to create a series of nationwide events to engage with consumers. Events were held at: Penn Relays in Philadelphia, the world largest track and field meet; Bicentennial Plaza at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore; Fountain Square in Cincinnati; the Minnesota Twins baseball game at Target Field in Minneapolis; and the San Diego Zoo in front of the Zoo’s Kids Store. Attendees at these events were able to sample three of Snyder’s flavored pretzel pieces at an old-fashioned pretzel cart with a modern twist. Consumers also earned free giveaway items like pretzel-shaped glasses or “I Tasted How Great a Pretzel Can BE” T-shirts in exchange for sharing a picture on Instagram or Twitter with hashtag #NationalPretzelDay while at the events.

National Pretzel Day was initially declared in 1983 by U..S. Representative Robert S. Walker of Lancaster County, PA, who proclaimed that his favorite food deserved a holiday. Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell re-declared the holiday in 2003 to acknowledge the importance of the pretzel to the state’s history and economy. Today more than 80 percent of America’s pretzels are made in the state.

The National Pretzel Day sampling events and social media served as a teaser for the Snyder’s of Hanover national TV and digital campaign that will launch this month in 27 markets across the country.

The National Grocers Association (NGA) recently released the results of a study on the impact of independent grocers on America’s economy. This groundbreaking research provides a clear picture of the key role independent grocers play at the national, state, and congressional district level. The research was conducted by John Dunham and Associates, an economic and government relations research firm based out of New York. The report provides information on independent grocers and wholesalers sales, jobs created, wages paid, and federal and state taxed paid. For more information visit www.grocersimpactamerica.com.

Congratulations to Laura Williams, senior VP and deputy general counsel at Ahold USA, who has been named a recipient of one of the 2013 Women of Influence Awards from the Central Penn Business Journal. Williams earned the honor for her leadership and achievements with Ahold USA, as well as for her contributions to the wider community.

And finally, here’s some news I’ve been waiting for…..Hostess Brands LLC, a new company and employer under new ownership, plans to re-launch its state-of-the-art bakery in Columbus, GA. The company will initially add 200 jobs to the economy there and plans to create a total of more than 300 jobs in the community within the next several years. The baking facility will resume operations this summer and will produce a full assortment of Hostess snack products, including Twinkies, Cup Cakes, Ho-Hos and Ding Dongs.

Baltimore-based Santoni’s Supermarket launched East Baltimore’s first-ever “Grocery Store Shuttle Service,” dedicated to providing free transportation for residents in communities with low-vehicle ownership and little access to healthy foods.

The service has been praised by local food advocates including community groups, non-profit partners and City officials. Santoni’s is a full-service independent grocery store servicing the East and South East Baltimore communities for over 82 years.

Giant/Landover is making sure shoppers know that the Ahold USA-owned grocery chain is doing its bit for the environment. “Making efforts to reduce our impact – and encouraging our customers to do the same – is crucial to protecting and preserving the communities in which we live and work,” said Jamie Miller, public and community relations manager for Giant/Landover.

To that end Giant has launched a “Sustainable Choice” program to aid customers in selecting products that are sustainable, safe and responsibly produced. In the seafood department, a “Sustainable Choice” icon will shows customers which seafood items have been responsibly farmed or fished and are certified by a qualifying eco-label.

Regan Lund has joined the Network of Executive Women in the new role of national development manager. NEW is the consumer products and retail industry’s largest women’s leadership community, with more than 7,000 members in 19 regions across the U.S. and Canada. It hosts dozens of local events and two national conferences each year. For more information visit www.newonline.org.

Lund will be key to supporting NEW’s rapidly growing roster of sponsors, according to Nancy Krawczyk, vice president of sales and marketing. NEW has more than 86 national sponsors, including Foundations sponsors The Coca Cola Company, Kraft Foods Group, Mondelez International, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club.

Lund was development director of Enactus United States (formerly SIFE), and previously served as business development manager for Echo Global Logistics. Earlier in her career, she was a national account executive for IRH Capital LLC and was a student brand manager for Red Bull North America. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa.

On a personal note, last month Kathy and I enjoyed April in Paris and the French countryside. Our guide on that trip was an awesome young man named Vincent Lauferon (who is fluent in seven languages) who gave an excellent overview of French history and culture. (If you are ever in the market for a knowledgeable French guide check out his website, www.awesome-guide.com.). Personally, one of the most moving experiences for me was our visit to Normandy where American and Allied troops landed to begin the final defeat of Hitler and almost 10,000 Americans are buried in the American cemetery. We celebrated our last Paris evening with a memorable dinner and GREAT wine at Restaurant Chez Eugene in Montmartre.

Birthday wishes go out this month to: Lee Chadwick, mother of Lancaster Food’s Jerry Chadwick and to Food World’s Lou Rosenthal (retired), his 91st!

Celebrating anniversaries are: Jeremy and Helen Diamond Food-A-Rama, their 11th , and Kathy’s and my daughter, Cyndi, Coca-Cola Refreshments, and son-in-law Bill Ireland, Clyde’s Restaurant Group, their 9th!

We are always happy to publish anniversary and birthday dates. Just call (410-730-5013) or mail them to: In and Around Food World, 5537 Twin Knolls Rd.; Columbia, MD 21045. Or, drop Dick an email at [email protected].

Safeway has been named one of the 2013 World’s Most Ethical Companies (WME) by the Ethisphere Institute, marking the third time that Safeway has been recognized by Ethisphere for its commitment to maintaining superior business practices.   (If you’re wondering what “Ethisphere” means, the Ethisphere Institute is a think tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability. For the past seven years, it annually selects companies from throughout the world for its prestigious WME list.)

“We are honored to be included in this prestigious list and humbled to be in the company of the most admired and principled businesses in the world,” said Laree Renda, Safeway executive vice president and chair of the Safeway Foundation. Safeway was selected for the WME list from thousands of nominated companies representing more than 100 countries and 36 industries.

The methodology for the WME list includes reviewing codes of ethics, litigation and regulatory infraction histories; evaluating the investment in innovation and sustainable business practices; looking at activities designed to improve corporate citizenship; and studying nominations from senior executives, industry peers, suppliers and customers.

Publix Super Markets led all retailers in customer satisfaction ratings in 2012, according to results of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Lakeland, FL based Publix scored 86 on the index, highest among retailers in eight channels of trade measured by ACSI. Publix’s score represented a 2.4 percent increase from 2011. Overall, supermarkets as a channel improved by 1.3 percent to 77 percent on the survey.

Whole Foods and Kroger followed Publix among supermarkets ranked by ACSI.

Winn-Dixie improved 4 percent to 78; and Supervalu was up 2.7 percent to 76. Wal-Mart stores were the industry’s top percentage gainer in 2012, but its 4.3 percent improvement brought it to 72 percent, lowest among supermarkets ranked by ACSI.

ACSI bases its results on 70,000 consumer interviews. It said companies that display high levels of customer satisfaction tend to have higher earnings and stock returns relative to competitors. It also said customer satisfaction is predictive of both consumer spending and gross domestic product growth.

Whole Foods also took the No.19 spot on Fortune magazine’s 2013 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list. The only grocer on the list, Whole Foods is also named the Most Admired Company in the food and drug store industry, leading the top 10 list of retailers in the category. Whole Foods is ranked in the top 10 for innovation, social responsibility, employee retention and product quality.

The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade has re-named itself the Specialty Food Association. The association’s new branding will launch at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City June 30-July 2. If you’ve never been to this show, and you’re in the retail food industry, it is a very interesting event and you should think about making the trip this year.

The 2013 Seafood Excellence Awards winners were announced at the International Boston Seafood Show. St. Mary’s River Smokehouses won the “Best New Retail” award for its oven Smoked Salmon Stix and Phillips Foods the “Best New Food Service” award for its culinary crab.

Winners were selected from a group of finalists during a live judging by a panel of seafood buyers and experts from the retail and foodservice industries. This year’s judges included: Kim Taylor, seafood category manager for Delhaize America; Sunil Contractor, finfish category manager for U.S. Foods; and David Bolosan, director of product innovation for Black Angus Steakhouse. Co-located with Seafood Processing America, the International Boston Seafood is North America’s largest seafood trade event, and drew more than 9,000 buyers and sellers from more than 100 countries and over 1000 exhibiting companies.

MOM’s Organic Market announced the activation of rooftop solar panels on its store in Waldorf, MD. The store, MOM’s first in Charles County, opened it doors in November 2012. The unit features energy-efficient design, including closed-door coolers, LED lighting and electric car charging stations. The photovoltaic system, which was installed by SolarCity, is expected to offset the store’s energy needs by at least 15 percent.

“The Waldorf solar array is the first of many,” said Scott Nash, MOM’s founder and CEO. “We plan to install solar panels on every store that we can in the future.”

The National Retail Federation reported that, despite an increase in payroll taxes and higher gasoline taxes, retail sales (excluding sales of autos, gas station sales and restaurants) increased 7 percent from January.

The Washington Post reports that a coalition of “environmental, religious and business groups” is endeavoring to persuade Maryland state lawmakers to impose a five-cent charge for each disposable plastic bag handed out by businesses to customers, which the groups say “would help the environment and not burden low-income residents.”

According to the story, Maryland might actually be the first state to impose such a statewide charge, though “at least five other states – Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Washington” – are contemplating similar legislation.

The story reports: “…under the Maryland proposal … shoppers would be charged a nickel for each disposable bag. Merchants would be able to keep a penny per bag, and stores that offer a rebate to customers who bring their own bags would keep two cents for each disposable bag sold.”

Everyone wants to be a supermarket operator. In a recent article in the Morning News Beat column of The Los Angeles Times, the writer reports on how drug stores are changing their approach as a way of attracting more customers to shop more often.

“Walgreens, for example, is opening glossy stores that feature sushi chefs and enormous alcohol selections. CVS stores have added fresh sandwiches and produce. Rite Aid has been revamping its locations and bringing in packaged organic and gluten-free food.”

“Drug stores perceive themselves as not just competing with each other, but also with mass merchants that sell many of the same items they do, as well as with online merchants that can beat them on cost and that appeals to tech savvy younger shoppers.”

In an article by Brady Dennis, published last month in The Washington Post, he writes that “Whole Foods became the first retailer in the country to announce that it would require its more than 300 stores to label all food containing genetically modified ingredients.”

The move, to be phased in over five years, marked the latest salvo in a decades-long global fight over the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) such as corn, cotton and soybeans in food. As the use of GMOs in a wide range of products has proliferated, so has the argument over whether they are safe for humans and the environment, whether they deserve more scrutiny from regulators and how they should be labeled.”

Stay tuned to this one, we’re sure to hear more about this in months to come.

We were saddened to learn of the death of Eddie Basha, chairman and CEO of the Basha’s family-owned grocery store chain in Arizona. Basha’s grandfather and father opened the first unit of what would become the family owned chain in 1932. Eddie took over the business at age 31 when his father died in 1968. The chain grew to what it is today, 130 stores around Arizona and they also own the AJ’s Fine Foods and Food City Stores. Basha served on the Arizona Board of Regents and unsuccessfully ran for Arizona governor in 1994. He was 75.

Birthday wishes go out this month to: Lee Chadwick, mother of Lancaster Foods’ Jerry Chadwick; my son Rick Bestany, Allegian Systems, and son-in-law, Bill Ireland, Clyde’s Restaurant Group. Celebrating an anniversary are Jeremy and Helen Diamond, Food-A-Rama, their 10th.

Ahold USA recently announced record breaking 2012 charitable giving donations across all of its retail divisions, along with a special commitment to fighting childhood hunger.

Last year, through Our Family Foundation, Ahold’s retail banners – Giant/Landover, Stop & Shop, and Giant/Martins – along with vendor partners and customers, made donations of nearly $67 million to local organizations committed to fighting hunger, improving the lives of children, and building healthy communities.

Recently, just five blocks from the site of the first Giant/Landover, Giant’s operating committee was joined by Feeding America food bank leaders to highlight 2012 giving and announce Child Hunger Grants.

Giant/Landover remains committed to alleviating hunger, enhancing education programs and health and wellness initiatives, as well as supporting service members and their families. Giant’s monetary and in-kind contributions exceeded $12 million, which was an increase from $8.3 million in 2011.

“Giant Food is a proud community partner. Giving back is a cornerstone of our company, which was instilled by our founders 77 years ago,” said Anthony Hucker, Giant/Landover president. “We’re very proud of our legacy, especially as the nation’s capital grocer, and are committed to being a better neighbor each and every day.”

Giant’s support of Feeding America food bank partners and hunger relief organizations including the Capital Area Food Bank, Maryland Food Bank, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, and food Bank of Delaware remains the neighborhood grocer’s top priority. Through food drives, special deliveries, and monetary and product donations, Giant’s contributions helped partners provide 55.2 million meals to neighbors in need.

At another recent press conference, Hucker announced Giant/Landover’s first-ever Child Hunger Grants to benefit five Feeding America food bank partners. This year’s grants are in excess of $850,000 and grant commitments over the next three years are equivalent to more than $2.8 million, enabling the Capital Area Food Bank, Maryland Food Bank, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, and Food Bank ofDelawareto implement programs and initiatives to combat child hunger.

In addition to hunger relief, Giant teamed up with health and wellness groups, military support organizations, and various nonprofit organizations, as well as supporting education programs to help individuals and families in the communities it serves across the Mid-Atlantic region.

Four supermarket retailers –Boulim’s Fresh Foods, Redner’s Markets, Harris Teeter and Tops Friendly Markets – were named Beef Backer Award winners at the 2013 Cattle Industry Annual Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association annual trade show held inTampa last month. The retailers are recognized for their outstanding efforts to market and merchandise beef in their meat cases.

In the mid-size retailer category, 42-unit Redners’s Markets, based in Reading, PA, was the award winner, and in the large chain category, Harris Teeter of Charlotte, NC, with 211 stores, won the Beef Backer Award for the fifth time.

Tops Friendly Markets, Williamsville, NY, received a Beef Backer Award for being Innovator of the Year.

The awards program is funded by the Beef Checkoff Program. “The beef industry depends on retailers of all sizes to promote and sell the fresh and wholesome beef US ranchers provide,” said Brett Morris, an Oklahoma-based producer and chairman of the checkoff’s 2012 Joint Retail Committee, in a news release announcing the winners.

Coming up soon, the Consumer Federation of America’s National Food Policy Conference will be held in Washington, DC April 15-16.

For 36 years, the National Food Policy Conference (NFPC) has been aWashington institution and a unique collaboration between consumer advocates, the food industry and government. The conference will explore an array of important food policy issues facing consumers and the food industry. It will also address how immigration reform might impact our food supplies and discuss the future of food shopping. Speakers and panelists will examine timely food policy topics, including the debate on sugar sweetened beverages, the impact of changing animal welfare standards, an update on implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act, the opportunities and challenges of sodium reduction, and priority setting in a time of reduced resources. For more information regarding the NFPC contact Anna Marie Lowery at 202-939-1005.

The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) has hired Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, to help enhance NFRA’s existing marketing campaigns and recharge efforts around promoting frozen and refrigerated dairy foods. NFRA represents more than 400 food manufacturers, retailers, sales agents and distributors with the common goal of fostering industry dialogue and demonstrating the relevance and value of their products toU.S.grocery shoppers.

NFRA president and CEO Skip Shaw says that the current food environment has made it critical to implement a more aggressive and contemporary communications program.

NFRA has been very successful promoting frozen and refrigerated foods for nearly three decades through signature programming like March frozen food month and June dairy month, but the changing landscape poses new challenges.

Together NFRA and Edelman will work to tell the story of frozen and refrigerated dairy foods in new, dynamic ways to more people and across more channels than ever before.

Enhanced efforts will include robust media relations through an all-industry messaging platform and new and engaging ways to reach consumers.

Also, NFRA will have dropped a three-page FSI with a circulation of 36 million that includes coupons and product photos of the participating brands.

Flowers Foods of Thomasville, GA announced late last week that its board of directors has elected Allen Shiver president and chief executive officer effective May, 2013.

Shiver has 33 years of service with the company and currently serves as president. George Deese, current chairman of the board and chief executive officer, has been elected executive chairman of the board.

Shiver noted that Flowers will remain focused on strengthening its number two position in theU.S.fresh baked foods market.

Congratulations to Michael Bozzuto, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Bozzuto’s, who was recently elected to the board of the National Grocers Association.

Relay Foods, a new online grocer that started service in the Baltimore area last December, is now offering pickup service for customers. Previously, the only option for Baltimore customers purchasing groceries from Relay had been home delivery.

Relay Foods stocks what you would find in a good grocery store, including bagged produce, meats and cheese. The company works with local restaurants, farmers and producers primarily around its home base of Charlottesville, VA, and says it is building relationships in the Baltimore area.

For the first time in 32 years, a bill has been introduced in Annapolis that would legalize chain store beer and wine sales inMaryland.

If passed, this bill will create a chain store license for club stores, supermarkets, drug and convenience stores that would be issued by the local licensing authority.

The bill also removes any population quotas so that existing chain stores would be eligible to apply for the license and it enables retailers to obtain the direct wine shippers permit.

Here’s an interesting story that appeared in a recent issue of The Wall Street Journal. Apparently the gum industry is in a sticky spot: Sales are sliding as chewing the stuff has fallen out of favor. To try to lure customers back, gum makers are exploring new places to sell their products – think sandwich shops instead of just convenience stores and supermarkets – and shrinking package sizes to fit jeans pockets.”

The story goes on  to say, “…decline in gum sales can be partly blamed on the economy, as well as changing consumer behavior as people switch to less-obtrusive mints to freshen breath.” Really!

Birthday wishes go out to Barbara Wolf, Acosta Sales & Marketing; Ken Gore, K.B. Gore & Co.; John Weiland, husband of Best-Met’s Nina Weiland, retired; and Denis McCrossan, Crystal Geyser Water.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I’m writing this column just a couple of weeks after the horrific incident that occurred in Newtown,CT. It’s difficult to understand what drove the individual to do what he did. It’s even more difficult to write about it, and all I can think to say is that the prayers of the entire Mid-Atlantic food industry go out to the families who lost their loved ones in this most tragic event.

In a related story, through the collaboration of ShopRite Supermarkets, elected officials, nonprofit organizations and local police, the first-ever “Goods for Guns” collection in the city of Baltimore took place last month at the Goldstream Homestead Montebello Community Corp., with more than 461 weapons taken off the streets.

In honor of the opening of the new ShopRite of Perring Crossing in Parkville, MD, the event was supported by Baltimore’s City Council, ShopRite operator Klein Family Markets, and UpLift Solutions Inc., founded by fellow ShopRite store operator Jeff Brown. Congratulations to all involved for taking real steps to make the city safer for all.

I found the life story of  N. Joseph Woodland, the co-inventor of the bar code that labels nearly every product in supermarkets and other stores and has boosted productivity in nearly every sector of commerce worldwide, fascinating as I read his obituary in The Washington Post. Woodland died last month in Edgewater, NJ at the age of 91. According to The Post, “…he and Bernard “Bob” Silver were students at what is now Drexel University in Philadelphia when Silver overheard a grocery a grocery-store executive asking an engineering school dean to channel students into research on how product information could be captured at checkout.

Woodland, who had worked on the Manhattan Project, the atomic bomb development team, and had already earned a mechanical engineering degree, dropped out of graduate school to work on the bar-code idea.”

In Miamihe focused on developing a code that could symbolically capture details about an item, according to his daughter Susan Woodland. The only code he knew was the Morse code he had learned in the Boy Scouts.

Woodlandtold Smithsonian magazine in 1999, “I poked my four fingers into the sand and for whatever reason – I didn’t know – I pulled my hand toward me and drew four lines. I said: ‘Golly! Now I have four lines and they could be wide lines and narrow lines instead of dots and dashes.’”

In 1949, Woodland and Silver submitted their patent for a code patterned on concentric circles that looked like a bull’s-eye. The patent was issued in 1952.

Woodland joined IBM in 1951 hoping to develop the bar code, but the technology wasn’t accepted for more than two decades, until lasers made it possible to read the code readily, according to IBM.

In the early 1970s, Woodland joined a team in Raleigh, NC, at IBM’s ResearchTriangle Park facility. The team developed a bar-code-reading laser scanner system in response to grocers’ desires to automate and speed checkout while also cutting handling and inventory management costs.

IBM promoted a rectangular bar code that led to a standard for Universal Product Code technology. The first product sold using a UPC scan was a 67-cent package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at a supermarket inTroy,OH, in June 1974, according to GSIUS, the American affiliate of the global standard-setting UPC body.

Today, about five billion products are scanned and tracked world-wide every day, including sale items, airline boarding passes, military equipment, hospital patients, livestock and highway toll customers, GSI US says.

Retired from IBM in 1987, he received the National Medal of Technology from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1992.

The month of December could be called “Coke time” in light of decades of advertising for Coca-Cola featuring the “Sundblom Santa” – illustrations by artist Haddon Sundblom that have helped shape the popular perception of Santa Claus.

The seasonal connection has taken on new meaning in December according to Stuart Elliott, writing in the media and advertising section of The New York Times. Coca-Cola has joined the home-shopping giant Home Shopping Network (HSN) for what is being described as the channel’s most extensive partnership with a packaged-goods marketer.

The collaboration includes HSN’s selling merchandise not only on its cable channel but also online, on mobile devices and through social media like Twitter.

Most merchandise is devoted to the Coca-Cola Company’s flagship soft drink, Coca-Cola, while some items will carry Diet Coke logos.

The merchandise – in a broad assortment of categories like accessories, apparel, home décor, kitchen items and sporting goods – will be a mix of products already produced by Coca-Cola licensees and products that Coca-Cola and HSN are producing together.

Coca-Cola is also promoting HSN on My Coke Rewards, a Web site with more than 14 million members. Members can redeem rewards points for HSN merchandise at HSN. com. The partnership also has a charitable component, involving HSN Cares, a nonprofit organization for which the Coca-Cola Company helps raise money.

Dukkah on your snack crackers? Cajeta in your stir-fry? These international ingredients are among the flavor trends that McCormick & Co Inc thinks will be hot a few years from now.

According to its 2013 “Flavor Forecast,” theU.S.spice company identified certain trends and flavor combinations it thinks can have wide use for its customers, which range from packaged food and beverage makers, to fast food and restaurant chains and retailers.

One ingredient is Dukkah, a Middle Eastern spice blend made with toasted nuts, cumin, and coriander and sesame seeds.

Also highlighted are cajeta, a milk caramel popular in Mexico, and katsu sauce, a thick, tangy sauce popular in Japan. McCormick highlighted the Mexican caramel sauce as an ingredient in a pork tenderloin stir-fry and paired the katsu sauce with oregano. These ingredients have interesting uses for capable home chefs, according to Kevin Vetter, executive chef at McCormick.

Prior food trends that McCormick predicted included coconut water in 2008, smoked paprika in 2006 and chipotle in 2003. The company also recommended “pumpkin pie spice” and Thai basil in 2010.

Congratulations to Paul Opitz who was recently appointed COO of Phillips Foods Inc. effective January 1, 2013. Opitz, whose most recent role was president of Phillips Asia, will draw on his more than 50 years of seafood production experience to streamline operational efficiencies for the Baltimore-based global seafood processor.

Here an interesting bit of information from Adam Borden, former executive director of Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine, a non-profit advocacy group that was successful in legalizing wine shipping inMaryland. The world’s rarest beer ($84.99 for a six-pack) is coming to theUnited States in limited quantities so the Belgian monks who make it can afford a new roof on their Abbey.

The monks only make as much beer as they need to afford to take care of the Abbey, which is why they are now selling a few bottles from their 3,800 barrels, the same amount they have been brewing since 1945. (For $84.99 a six pack, it must be good or they have a very big roof.)

The National Grocers Association (NGA) has announced that all exhibit space has been sold for its annual convention, scheduled for February 10-13 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas- the earliest date the show has sold out completely.

More than 175 exhibitors have committed to NGA, said Peter Larkin, president and CEO, adding that NGA will share the exhibit space with the Produce Marketing Association and the North American Meat Association. Larkin also said early show registration numbers are up significantly over the numbers at this point a year ago.

Our best wishes go out this month to our friend Tony Moynagh, who retired recently as general manager of Clyde’s of Chevy Chase (prior to that he had been the GM at Clyde’s of Columbia). Tony and his wife Celia are enthusiastic sailors and no doubt plan on sailing around the world. Whatever they choose to do, we wish them much happiness.

Birthday wishes go out this month to Randy Holland, Star Sales & Marketing/Pro-Star; Carl Jablonski, formerly of Acme and Shaw’s Supermarkets; Jim Therian, Masiello Group Realty; and Kathleen Kelly, sister of Food World and Food Trade News editor Terri Maloney. Anniversary wishes go out this to: Policy Solutions Barry and Olga Scher, their 8th; and to Food World’s Lou and Mimi Rosenthal, their 64th!

From all of us at Best-Met Publishing – Food World, Food Trade News and the Mid-Atlantic Grocery Industry Directory – may you and yours enjoy a very healthy, happy and prosperous 2013 and remember to keep reading Food World and Food Trade News and keep buying those ads!

You can reach Dick Bestany at: [email protected].

December ushers in the season of celebrating and giving. The food industry has a long history of charitable giving to those in need. ShopRite Partners In Caring, a year-round-hunger fighting initiative of Keasbey, NJ-based Wakefern Food Corp., whose members operate stores under the ShopRite banner, has made a record donation of 100,000 pounds of turkeys, which will go to food banks in the retail cooperative’s Northeast market area. According to ShopRite Partners in Caring, the turkeys will help alleviate the increased need for fresh and healthy food in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which battered the East Coast and left behind a trail of destruction.

To date, the initiative has donated more than 700,000 pounds of frozen turkeys to food banks in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware,P ennsylvania and Maryland. Since it began in 1999, ShopRite Partners In Caring has donated $29 million to more than 1,700 charities.

Giant/Landover delivered 1,000 turkeys for needy families to the Capital Area Food Bank November 16. The donation from the 170-store Ahold USA division marked one of five to Feeding America food banks across the Mid-Atlantic region. The 5,000 turkeys helped provide Thanksgiving meals to thousands in Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

Speaking of the food bank, Lynn Brantley, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) and the leader of hunger relief efforts in the Washington metro area since 1980, announced she will retire at the end of 2012.

“Lynn’s vision and passionate commitment to the mission of the Capital Area Food Bank have remained unchanged over the years – to feed the hungry with dignity, prevent food waste and save partner agencies countless dollars while they serve those most in need,” said CAFB chairman Greg Ten Eyck, Safeway, adding that Brantley will continue to serve the organization as president emeritus.

Chosen unanimously by the board, Brantley’s successor will be Nancy E. Roman, currently director of public/private partnerships and communications at the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian agency, feeding 100 million people in 75 countries. Roman will assume her new role as president and CEO on January 2.

In its early days CAFB was a small operation providing 1,537 pounds of food per month to a few thousand people. Today, it has 130 employees and distributes 33 million pounds of food a year – half of which is fresh produce – through 700 non-profit partner agencies in DC, Northern Virginia and Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland.

Under Brantley’s leadership, the CAFB developed a comprehensive approach to addressing hunger by providing nutrition education and training; hosting hunger conferences; attracting some 18,000 volunteers to the food bank annually and advocating on behalf of those who rely on such programs as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which was previously known as the food stamp program.

The CAFB is a member of Feeding America, theWashingtonmetro area’s largest nonprofit food and nutrition education resource. To learn more, go to http://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/.

Sunbury, PA-based Weis Markets, which operates 162 stores, announced it will open its first LEED-certified store in Fogelsville, PA in December.

To achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, the new supermarket measurably reduces or mitigates its environmental impact in the following areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, material selection and indoor environmental quality.

The Fogelsville location will feature a larger perishable department, including a produce department with a greater selection of organic produce, an in-store cafe where beer will be sold and a full-service pharmacy, among other features.

In a related release, Weis Markets announced as part of its ongoing commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, a store-wide plan to use 100 percent recyclable modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) meat trays for its fresh meat products.

Weis has partnered exclusively with Clearly Clean Products, of Orwigsburg, PA, which specializes in custom thermo-formed packaging solutions. Weis began introducing the new meat packaging to its 162 stores for kabobs and ground sausage, and plans to extend the packaging to its ground beef product line in early 2013. The new recycled trays are made from 80 percent recycled #1 plastic and can be recycled by customers.

In 2012, Weis diverted more than 37 million pounds of recyclables from landfills, including 34 million pounds of cardboard, 280,000 pounds of office paper, 56,000 pounds of plastic pharmacy bottles, 528,000 pounds of waxed cardboard, 1.3 million pounds of plastic shopping bags and film plastics, and 1.5 million pounds of food waste.

IGA will host its Global Rally April 13-16, 2013 at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Chicago. According to Mark Batenic, CEO of IGA, the business sessions at the rally will focus on “where our industry is heading, exploring both the challenges and opportunities that will surface in independent retail in the coming months and years.”

The sessions will feature a combination of IGA retailers and industry speakers “to provide real solutions you can put in play immediately, as well as innovative ideas that help you prepare for long-term success,” he added.

Ahold USA will build a new meat-processing facility in Lower Allen Township, PA with funding assistance from the state of Pennsylvania. Ahold, parent of the Giant/Carlisle, Giant/Landover and Stop & Shop chains, will invest “at least $63 million” to build the new, 162,000-square-foot facility, which will be run by Wichita, KS-based Vantage Foods. Plans call for the hiring of 850 workers to staff the facility.

And a final good-by to Hostess Brands Inc., the 85-year old maker of such treats as Twinkies, Ding Dongs and pantry staples like Wonder Bread. The Irving, TX-based company, which filed for Chapter 11 for a second time in January, closed all factories. About 18,000-plus people will be out of work and it could result in more than 300 brands being sold or disappearing, including two of my favorites – Twinkies and Ring Dings.

Anniversary wishes go out to Russ and Joan Reynolds, Supervalu, their 38th; Michael and Juli Finkelstein, Associated Services, their 29th; Todd and Amy Sibel, Hook-Me-Up Marketing, their 19th; Jerry and Ligia Chadwick, Guest Services, their 35th; Mike and Monica Cavanaugh, Weider Sports and Nutrition, their 11th; and to our own Lou Rosenthal and his lovely wife, Mimi, we congratulate them on 67 wonderful years of marriage.

All of us at Best-Met Publishing thank our readers and advertisers for making 2012 an exciting and interesting year and for letting us be a part of this wonderful and crazy business. You are all terrific and very generous people. A very happy, healthy and joyous holiday season to each and every one of you.

Since many in the food industry are often attending new product events, GMR meetings, and other occasions where an open bar is always available, you won’t be surprised to hear that the wine industry has noticed an upswing in wine consumption. According to the recently released 2012 Wine Handbook, wine consumption gained 3.0 percent to reach 312.4 million 9-liter cases in 2011. The handbook is a publication of the Norwalk, CT-based Beverage Information Group.

According to Beverage Information Group, the wine industry has now marked 18 years of growth, even in the midst of a still-fragile U.S. economy.

Consumer confidence and innovation by producers contributed to these gains. New varietals such as sweet reds and higher-end blends have engaged consumers, according to the report.

“As consumers discover new varietals, regions and price points, overall wine consumption is expected to continue to increase over the next five years,” said Adam Rogers, senior research analyst for the Beverage Information Group. “The wine industry is predicted to reach 317.3 million cases by 2012.”

Domestic wines continued to outpace imports. The U.S. has a reputation of being a better value than its imported counterparts, so wines from California, Oregon and Washington fared well in 2011.

Imports did see some pockets of success, namely wines from Italy, Argentina and Spain. Millennial consumers are also helping the imported category due to their interest in lesser-known varietals and willingness to experiment.

High-end varietals saw a significant boost this past year. With more confidence in the recovering economy, consumers are dining out more where higher-priced offerings are in demand. Total wine dollar sales grew to $27.8 billion last year, with on-premise accounting for 43.8% – a 2.8% increase from 2010.

Brace yourself—the Jolly Green Giant and Cheerios Kid are on the comeback trail. General Mills is resurrecting the classic characters in two new ad campaigns which debuted recently. The campaigns will make a nostalgic appeal to convince consumers of the health benefits of the cereal and vegetable brands.

The Green Giant, who debuted in 1928, will return to take a prominent role in a TV ad for the first time in some eight years via a campaign that marks the beginning of a revival for the big fella. In recent years, the Giant had been relegated to low-profile appearances, appearing only as a shadow in some spots.

While less well known, the animated Cheerios Kid was famous in his day, appearing in TV ads in the 1950s and 1960s, encouraging kids to “connect the ‘Big G to the Little O’ to get the ‘Go’ power of Cheerios.” In the campaign he will speak to nostalgic Baby Boomers in an online video in which he gives a scientific explanation to longtime sidekick Sue about eating Cheerios that can “help naturally remove some cholesterol from the body.” The spot will initially run on You Tube, Facebook and Web MD.

In a recent article in Forbes, contributing writer Beth Hoffman writes: “Move over Boomers, the Millennials are taking over. And that shift will potentially change the food system as we know it. According to a report released this summer by Jeffries Alix Partners, “Trouble in Aisle 5” looks at the impact the generation born between 1982 and 2001 (otherwise known as the “Millennials”) will have on the grocery market as they continue to mature into people with money and families. At the same time the purchasing power of the Baby Boomer generation is slowly fading, the report says, and the group will have less impact on what is available at the supermarket.

Millinnials still prefer less expensive food and want it to be easily available. They are willing to pay for fresh and healthy food and to go to great lengths to find it.

According to the article, this shift – by millions of people – could change the market place as power is shifted from large mass market companies and brands to “the little guy” selling online or at the local corner store.

The article goes on to say that millennials have much less brand loyalty and are willing to purchase food online and to look outside of the traditional grocery store to find what they want.

Mark your calendars for SIAL 2012 The Global Food Marketplace, which will be held in Paris October 21-25. This is the show of shows for everyone in the food industry. Promoting the event, the organization said: “At crossroads of global food supply and demand, SIAL establishes numerous food connections between industry professionals, who flock to this key food marketplace to see the highly innovative products that will be found in the supermarket facings of tomorrow.”

A real asset to sales performance, innovation is also one of the most reliable and valuable forward forward-looking indicators. By giving its rightful place to innovation, and constant monitoring and analysis, SIAL assures its very legitimacy and modern stamp. SIAL organizers stress that the exhibition is not merely a trade fair but a forum for interaction that highlights the leading trends, major innovations and market realities of tomorrow.

With 140,000 visitors and 6,000 exhibitors, SIAL’s ambitions have definitely been met and a road map clearly defined: “To cultivate its role as a visionary, purchasing advisor and wellspring of untapped trends,” so writes Olivia Milan-Grosbois, SIAL Group Director.

Our sincere sympathy goes out to the family of Bernard J. “B.J.” Land, Coca-Cola who passed away suddenly last month of cardiac arrest. The Hunt Valley, MD resident was well known to the food industry in the Baltimore-Washington area . A graduate of St. Paul’s High School in Baltimore, he was nominated for the Baltimore area’s annual McCormick Unsung Hero award and was a 1982 graduate of The Johns Hopkins University, where he played varsity football. A physical fitness buff, he coached youth soccer and lacrosse teams.. He was an avid Ravens fan and enjoyed tailgating at M&T Bank Stadium.

He and his family also enjoyed vacations at Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard, where he was known for organized football games with his brothers-in-law and their children.

At the time of his death, he was vice president of Coca-Cola’s national retail sales warehouse division in Baltimore. Family members said that B.J. had returned home after a long bike ride and suffered a cardiac arrest caused by coronary artery disease, which he was unaware that he had.

We recently learned of the death of Joseph Saker, the founder and former chairman of Philadelphia-based Food-A-Rama Supermarkets and an influential industry leader.

Saker grew up in the Philadelphia area and in a grocery business run by his parents and founded by his grandfather. Joseph Saker joined Wakefern just one year after the cooperative was founded and began operating under the ShopRite name in 1951. He incorporated the business under the Food-A-Rama Supermarkets name in 1958 and took the company public in 1965.

He was a founding chairman of the New Jersey Food Council, and also a past chairman and board member of the New York State Food Merchants Association. He helped to start the Academy of Food Marketing and Food Marketing Educational Foundation at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, one of the few business programs dedicated to the supermarket industry. He retired in 2005. A year later, his son, Richard Saker, took the company private and renamed it Saker ShopRites.

irthday wishes go out this month to: Policy Solution’s Barry Scher; Best-Met Publishing’s CFO, William Speakman; Andy Metzger, son of Best-Met’s Jeff and Audrie Metzger; Carl Jablonski; a friend of the food industry, retired; Paul Bell, Bell Sales; and marketing consultant Ron Fish.

Anniversary wishes to Safeway’s (retired) Roger and Phyllis Herding, their 44th; Food World’s (retired) Lou and Mimi Rosenthal, their 63rd; and Maryland Department of Transportation’s Richard and Caryn Scher, their 15th.