News
Food Makers Try Hard for ‘Natural’ Look
June 18, 2013 9:44 am | by CANDICE CHOI,AP Food Industry Writer | CommentsFood companies are responding to the adage that people eat with their eyes. Americans still love their fast food and packaged snacks, but they're increasingly turning their noses up at foods that look overly processed. Home-cooked meals — or ones that at least look like they were homemade — are seen as more wholesome and authentic.
Photo of the Day: A Produce Aisle Without Bees
June 18, 2013 9:40 am | CommentsTo raise awareness of just how crucial pollinators are to our food system, the University Heights Whole Foods Market store temporarily removed all produce that comes from plants dependent on pollinators. They pulled from shelves 237 of 453 products — 52 percent of the department's normal product mix.
University Starts Sperm Bank for Honeybees
June 17, 2013 12:26 pm | by NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS,Associated Press | CommentsThere's a lot of buzz at Washington State University over work to develop the first sperm bank for honeybees. Entomologist Steve Sheppard and his crew are using liquid nitrogen to preserve semen extracted from the industrious insects that pollinate much of the nation's food supply but face environmental threats.
Farm Bill Could Hinge on Dairy Vote
June 17, 2013 12:24 pm | by MARY CLARE JALONICK,Associated Press | CommentsAn overhaul of dairy policy and a new insurance program for dairy farmers included in the farm bill have passionately divided farm-state lawmakers. Most importantly, it has caused a rift between House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota.
38 Countries Beat UN Targets To Reduce Hunger
June 17, 2013 12:22 pm | CommentsThirty-eight countries have beaten a U.N.-imposed deadline of 2015 to cut in half the proportion of hungry people. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization on Saturday recognized the 38 countries and urged those still working to meet the U.N. target to redouble efforts.
Irrigated Vegetable Farm in the Works in Arizona
June 17, 2013 12:21 pm | by SUZANNE ADAMS-OCKRASSA,Kingman Daily Miner | CommentsLas Vegas developer Jim Rhodes has returned to Mohave County, but instead of planting houses in the Golden Valley and Red Lake areas, he's planting peppers, tomatoes and pickles. Rhodes' newest company, Kingman Farms, has started breaking ground on a 200-acre commercial vegetable farm off of Aztec Road behind the three model homes he built for his former master planned community Pravada.
Shareholder Says Smithfield Sale Undervalues Company
June 17, 2013 12:19 pm | by MICHAEL FELBERBAUM,AP Business Writer | CommentsOne of Smithfield Foods Inc.'s largest shareholders says a $4.72 billion takeover bid from China's largest meat producer falls short of what the company would be worth if sold off piece by piece. In a letter to the pork producer's board of directors on Monday, the New York-based investment firm Starboard Value LP estimated the company's value at $9 billion to $10.8 billion, or about $44 to $55 per share.
Consumer Trends: The Vegetables People Hate
June 17, 2013 12:00 pm | CommentsRanker.com, a crowdsourcing website that relies on “the wisdom of crowds,” has collected the aggregated opinion of over 1,500 voters on the list of “Vegetables I Won’t Eat.” Voters are able to vote up the veggies they hate the most, and vote down the ones that aren’t that bad.
Fair Trade USDA, Whole Foods Collaborate at Summit
June 17, 2013 9:52 am | CommentsFair Trade USA and Whole Foods Market teamed up to strengthen services to farmers and workers with the first-ever Fair Trade Produce & Floral Summit. The summit brought together 115 farmers & farm workers from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru as well as nonprofit organizations.
WhiteWave Announces Second Offering
June 17, 2013 9:46 am | CommentsThe WhiteWave Foods Co. said Friday that it filed plans for a secondary offering of 29.9 million shares of its stock currently held by one-time parent company Dean Foods Co. The company has granted the option to underwriters to buy an additional 4.5 million shares of stock.
USDA: Modified Wheat Appears To Be Isolated
June 17, 2013 9:43 am | by MARY CLARE JALONICK,Associated Press | CommentsThe U.S. Agriculture Department says it has no indications that genetically modified wheat found in Oregon last month has spread beyond the field in which it was found. No genetically engineered wheat has been approved for U.S. farming, and the department is investigating how the engineered wheat got there.
Award-Winning Chef Accused of Selling Bogus Wine
June 17, 2013 9:41 am | CommentsAward-winning chef Charlie Trotter is being sued by two New York wine collectors who say he sold them a bottle of wine for more than $46,000 that wasn't what it said on the label. The federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Chicago accuses Trotter and one of his wine experts of duping them into buying what they thought was a magnum of 1945 Romanee-Conti from the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti winery in June 2012.
Whey from Greek Yogurt Used To Produce Power
June 17, 2013 9:36 am | by MICHAEL HILL,Associated Press | CommentsThe Greek yogurt boom in New York is being harnessed to make electricity. More Greek yogurt production has meant more whey, a watery byproduct from the process. Yogurt makers commonly ship it back to farms for use as feed and fertilizer, but it's also is being used to generate power in several places.
Photo of the Day: The Power of Whey
June 17, 2013 9:34 am | CommentsWhey, a byproduct of Greek yogurt production, is collected at Gloversville-Johnstown wastewater plant west of Albany, N.Y., and mixed with anaerobic bacteria. The resulting methane gas becomes combustible fuel that generates nearly enough electricity to power the plant.
Daily Sound Bite: Future Rosy for Hormel
June 17, 2013 9:32 am | CommentsKeyBanc analyst Akshay Jagdale on Friday upgraded Hormel Foods Corp. stock from "Hold" to "Buy." Jagdale is optimistic about the company's future growth, citing a solid profit outlook for the company's Jennie-O Turkey division and its recent acquisition of Skippy.
Analyst Optimistic About Hormel’s Growth Opportunities
June 14, 2013 12:59 pm | CommentsA KeyBanc analyst on Friday upgraded Hormel Foods Corp. to "Buy" from "Hold," citing optimism about the company's prospects for growth. Akshay Jagdale, who also set a $48 price target, said that he came away from recent meetings with Hormel's management feeling more confident about the food company's plans to grow its existing businesses and the profit outlook for its Jennie-O-Turkey store division.
Wholesale Prices Rise 0.5 Percent in May
June 14, 2013 12:58 pm | by CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER,AP Economics Writer | CommentsA rise in food and gas costs drove a measure of wholesale prices up sharply in May. But outside those volatile categories, inflation was mild. The Labor Department said Friday that the producer price index rose 0.5 percent in May from April. Gas prices rose 1.5 percent last month, and food costs increased 0.6 percent.
Consumer Trends: Food Enzymes Market Growing
June 14, 2013 12:48 pm | CommentsGrowing demand for processed foods coupled with increasing awareness about health conscious products is significantly propelling growth in food industry, which in-turn is driving growth of the enzymes market. Foods Enzymes are biocatalysts which carry out specific functions in various application industries.
Daily Sound Bite: Potato Growers Accused of Antitrust
June 14, 2013 12:45 pm | CommentsAn association of Kansas-based grocery stores is suing the United Potato Growers of America (UPGA) claiming the group used unfair business practices to fix potato prices. But the UPGA is claiming it is shielded by Capper-Volstead, a 1922 act that exempts agriculture cooperatives from antitrust laws.
Former Goya Foods President Dies at 88
June 14, 2013 12:36 pm | CommentsJoseph Unanue, who helped turn Goya Foods into America's largest Hispanic-owned food company, has died. He was 88. Unanue died Wednesday at his home in Alpine, Bergen County. His family said he died of natural causes. Unanue began working at Goya in 1952 and served as president of the Secaucus-based company from 1976 to 2004.
