FOODSERVICE NEWS

NYC Health Dept. Organizes National Salt Reduction Plan
The National Salt Reduction Initiative, a New York City-led partnership of cities, states and national health organizations, last week unveiled its proposed targets to guide a voluntary reduction of salt levels in packaged and restaurant foods.
The goal of the initiative is to cut the salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25 percent over five years – an achievement that would reduce the nation’s salt intake by 20 percent and help prevent high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke.
The recommended daily limit for sodium intake is 1,500 mg for most adults (including anyone who is black or over 40) and 2,300 mg for others. Some food products, such as deli-meat sandwiches, pack that much sodium in one serving. But much of the salt in Americans’ diets comes from breads, muffins and other foods that don’t taste salty
The initiative includes two-year and four-year targets for each category of food. The proposed targets are posted at www.nyc.gov/health/salt.
Until Feb. 1, the NYC Health Department will solicit additional comments from the food industry.

NECI Changes Leadership After 30 Years
The Board of Directors of the New England Culinary Institute of Montpelier, Vt., recently appointed Dr. Robert (Skip) Myers as the college's new president, succeeding Fran Voigt, who had served in that role for all NECI's nearly 30 years of existence. Mr. Voigt, the co-founder of NECI, will remain with the college for the next several years, serving as chief executive officer.
Dr. Myers, 58, is also an avid and accomplished amateur chef who - just before the NECI opportunity was presented to him - was considering the possibility of joining a culinary school, not as an executive, but as a student.
"I was ready to make a change in my life," said Dr. Myers, who had completed four years as president of Daniel Webster College, in Nashua, New Hampshire. "When an executive recruiter asked if I might possibly be interested in looking at a position being advertised for the presidency of the New England Culinary Institute, I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had 30 years experience as a college administrator. I was considering a career change. I love to cook. Would I be interested in looking at that position? 'Yes,' I said. 'I would be very interested.'"
NECI's strategic plan calls for the college to become more competitive in its field, provide expanded offerings that will include a more traditional college curriculum in addition to food-related courses, provide a broader range of associate and baccalaureate degree options, and also expand its online presence.

NEICRA Hosts Annual Winter Seminar On Jan. 23
The New England Ice Cream Restaurant Assn. (NEICRA) will host its annual winter seminar. Saturday, Jan. 23, at the Lantana in Randolph, Mass.. The program begins at 9:00 a.m. with a seminar titled “Pricing Your Products To Make A Profit.” Bob Bryson, executive director of NEICRA, said the seminar will focus on profit margins, perceived value, and forecasting ingredient cost for 2010. The second seminar will focus on using your personal computer to connect with customers and will hosted by David Mabel of the Ice Creamsmith The program will also include the annual Taylor Freezer Open House At 1:00 p.m., a group of NEICRA members will participate in an open forum.

Food Service Latest Word…
New Jersey lawmakers passed a measure last week requiring chains with 20 or more outlets around the country to post calorie counts on menus and menu boards in their locations throughout New Jersey. The bill goes to Gov. Jon Corzine for his signature.

The Mass. Restaurant Assn. is sponsoring a Post Holiday Party which will benefit the Cindy L. Walsh Children’s Fund. Brian Walsh of Taylor Freezer passed away in 2006 leaving his wife, Cindy and three children. The Cindy L. Walsh Children’s Fund was established to benefit the Walsh family. Attendees are asked to donate a suggested minimum amount of $25. The event will be held Monday, Jan. 25 at the City Bar At the Lenox Hotel in Boston. To register call Cindy Walder at the MRA office at 508-303-9905.

The Boston Wine Expo will be held Jan. 23-24 at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.

C-STORE NEWS

Gulf Oil L.P. Acquires National Brand Rights
Effective Jan. 12, Gulf Oil L.P. of Framingham, Mass.,and a subsidiary of Cumberland Farms acquired all rights, title and interest to the “Gulf” brand in the U.S. Gulf Oil now controls the right to market the brand throughout the United States.
The Gulf brand has been in existence for almost 110 years. However, for the last 20 years, Gulf branded gasoline in the continental U.S. has only been available in an eleven-state region in the Northeast through a licensing agreement between Gulf Oil L.P.’s parent company and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. This acquisition enables Gulf Oil to expand its use of the Gulf brand throughout the U.S. for the first time since it acquired certain rights to the brand in 1986.
Ron Sabia, Gulf Oil president and chief operating officer, and Rick Dery, Gulf Oil senior vice president and chief sales and marketing officer , will lead the company’s expansion.
“This acquisition presents us with an extraordinary growth opportunity,” said Mr. Dery. “In September of 2005, we initiated an extensive overhaul of the marketing and business strategy surrounding the Gulf brand. Our objective was clear – to enhance the brand value of Gulf and to restore the image and perception of Gulf to that of a premium gasoline retailer. Even though we operated regionally, we behaved as a national marketer. The effort has paid off. During the past two years we have enjoyed unparalleled growth in overall station count, and we have overwhelmingly improved the quality and caliber of our entire retail station portfolio. Most importantly, the faith and acceptance of our branded distributors and dealers has validated that strategy.”

Couche-Tard Acquires Eight Stores In North Carolina
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. through its subsidiary Circle K Stores Inc., has signed an agreement to acquire eight stores in central North Carolina from Accel Marketing LLC which operates under the "Accel" banner. The transaction is anticipated to close in April 2010.
All eight stores are company operated and offer proprietary motor fuel. The stores would be operated by the Circle K Southeast Division under the Circle K banner and would all offer motor fuel
"These stores are highly visible and occupy strategic locations within their respective trade areas. They are large, modern, well built facilities that are well operated and have a strong management team in place. Strategically, this acquisition is a complement to our expansion and growth plans for the Southeast Division." indicated Matt McCure, vice president of operations for the Southeast Division.

Seneca Nation Opposed Cigarette Trafficking Act
The Seneca Nation has launched a campaign to defeat the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act. The act would not allow the U.S. Postal Service to deliver cigarettes or other types of tobacco products, which would essentially put Indian-owned mail order tobacco companies out of business. Currently, the House of Representatives and a Senate Committee have approved the act, which is expected to be taken up by the full Senate soon.
With tobacco trade vitally important to the Seneca Nation, its leaders predict the PACT Act could take away up to 65 percent in import/export revenue. “The PACT Act is being portrayed as a tool to fight cigarette smuggling. In reality, it will kill legitimate, treaty-sanctioned Native American commerce, causing significant economic harm,” said Seneca Nation President Barry E. Snyder. “We applaud the goal of halting rogue tobacco smuggling, but it’s wrong to wipe out legitimate jobs in the process.”
The National Assn. of Convenience (NACS) supports the legislation because it believes all tobacco retailers should be held to the same age verification and excise tax collection standards. According to NACS, vendors who operate via mail order or over the Internet do not employ effective age verification systems and many do not comply with existing federal law requiring them to deliver a list of their customers to state officials when shipping product across state lines. These lists empower the states to pursue collection of appropriate excise taxes due. According to NACS, The PACT Act will close these loopholes.

C-Store Latest Word…
7-Eleven has selected FM Facility Maintenance to handle all store maintenance for its 6, 200 corporate and franchise owned locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Anheuser Busch plans to launch a low calorie, light American style lager beer called Select 55 starting Feb. 1.

Quick Chek is introducing a new single origin coffee called Sumatra Mandheling from Indonesia throughout its 120 store locations in New Jersey and Southern New York.

NEW CHANNELS

Swift Trade Response For Haitian Relief Effort
Response was swift last week from the food industry as soon as the gravity of the Haitian earthquake was announced. Donations announced through Friday, Jan. 15 include: $25,000 from the Kraft Foods Foundation; $100,000 from Publix Super Markets Foundation; $500,000 from the Walmart Foundation and $100,000 in pre-packaged food kits; $1 million in bottled water products from Nestle’ Waters; $1 million donation from PepsiCo and Quaker, bottled water and Gatorade products.; $100,000 by ConAgra Foods Foundation; $250,000 by Wakefern Food Corp.; McDonald’s pledged $500,000 to be matched with donations from Arcos Dorados, the company that operates 1,700 McDonald’s restaurants in Latin America and U.S. Foodservice has pledged $50,000 the American Red Cross Int’l Response Fund. The Common Man Family of Restaurants will donate 50 percent of each guest’s food bill will be donated to relief efforts in Haiti through the American Red Cross and Partners in Development.

World Harbors Sauces & Marinades Sold to Mizkan Americas
Mizkan Americas, a major condiment manufacturer of Mt. Prospect Ill., has expanded its portfolio with the purchase of World Harbors Sauces & Marinades. With a state of the art production facility in Auburn, Maine, the acquisition builds on parent company Mizkan Group’s plans for global expansion of its retail branded, food ingredients and food services businesses.
“This acquisition broadens our product offerings across several channels of trade, including supermarket retail and food service. Strategically, this purchase is in line with our roll up strategy for North America and Europe.” said Craig Smith, president and chief executive officer of Mizkan Americas.
The purchase brings to Mizkan Americas a full line of sauces and marinades, including the World Harbors Brand and Buccaneer Blends® Barbeque Sauces.
The acquisition will also include a U.S. trademark licensing agreement to produce and exclusively distribute Angostura Mixers in the U.S.A.  Angostura is known for its bitters and mixers which can be used to bring flavor to a variety of drinks and food recipes. The licensing agreement allows Mizkan Americas to enter a new channel of trade that includes the liquor departments of supermarkets, liquor stores and on premise consumption.  Mizkan Americas also received an exclusive US distribution agreement to market and sell the Angostura Aromatic Bitters product line to this new channel of trade. Also included in the acquisition is a U.S. trademark licensing agreement to produce and distribute a line of Angostura Sauces. 

Shaw’s Settles With Mass. On Drug Claim Overcharges
Last week Mass. Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office settled with Shaws Supermarket after an investigation unveiled the company was overcharging public entities for various prescription drugs under the workers compensation insurance system. Shaw's will make a payment to the Commonwealth and to certain cities and towns in Massachusetts totaling $103,000. 
Ms. Coakley said “Our concern here was to ensure that Massachusetts cities and towns receive prompt refunds for any overcharges, and in the future public entities are not overcharged for prescription drug purchases. We appreciate that Shaws cooperated with us to reach these goals.” 
Cities and other public entities were overcharged by approximately $40,000, and will receive refunds of the overcharges. Additionally, Shaw's will pay $63,000 to the Commonwealth. 

New Channels Latest Word…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use Merrick Beef Filet Squares for dogs. The products have a package date of “Best By 111911” and the FDA is concern3ed the product may be contaminated with salmonella.

Imperial Distributors announced March 2-3 at the Crowne Plaza in Worcester, Mass. will be the date and setting for the Imperial 2010 Merchandising Show. The show includes Back to School, fall and winter holidays, cough and cold, health and beauty, and pet supplies.

Chex Finer Foods 19th annual tradeshow will be Wednesday, March 17 and Thursday, March 18 at Twin River, 100 River Rd., Lincoln, R.I. Trade show hours are March 17 from 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. and March 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 4: P.m.

Nancy Matheson Burns of Dole & Bailey will be the keynote speaker of the Mass. Specialty Food Assn., March 1 at the Lanam Club, Andover, Mass.

BIC, Shelton, Conn., is launching two new disposable shavers for men, the BIC Flex 4 and the BIC Hybrid Advance.