Mi Pueblo launches healthy living program

Hispanic grocery chain Mi Pueblo Food Centers has launched a new healthy living program for shoppers and employees known as "Salud y Belleza" by nutrition expert Lisa Antillón. Lisa Antillón will share healthy recipes, tips and advice.

The program was launched because obesity among the Hispanic population is higher compared to the general population. Through this program the retailer will increase awareness among the community and provide healthier and accessible alternatives.

The program will include recipes, health advice, beauty and skin care tips using natural products and produce found in the supermarket.

Mi Pueblo has a total of 19 store locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley and Monterey Bay Peninsula. The retailer strives to create an ambiance reminiscent of the crowded, fresh-food markets of Mexico and Latin America while also carrying all the grocery items generally available in mainstream supermarkets.

Stew Leonard’s grocery store opens in Farmingdale, Long Island

The opening marks the first Stew Leonard’s farm fresh food store on Long Island. Stew Leonard's had already announced the site for the second Long Island Store, at East Meadow, N.Y.

Recognized as “The World’s Largest Dairy Store” by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, Stew Leonard’s is best known for its farm fresh food, dedication to customer service and a fun, family-friendly atmosphere.

Stew Leonard’s Farmingdale store offers award-winning dairy, a full service butcher, an in-store bakery, 250 varieties of just picked fresh fruits and vegetables, more than 30 varieties of fresh caught seafood, an in-house gourmet kitchen, a cheese shoppe and deli, along with many other local products highlighting the agricultural bounty Long Island has to offer. Farmingdale’s open concept kitchen will feature a sushi bar, Mongolian grill, hearth pizza oven, wok, BBQ station, and hot/cold buffet bar.

Customers can expect to see some new surprises while shopping at Farmingdale: selfiespots located throughout the store to capture the location’s energy and excitement, and a free ice cream with every $100 spent.

Stew Leonard’s Farmingdale is located at 261 Airport Plaza, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735. Regular store hours are Monday through Sunday 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. The store can be reached directly at 516-962-8210.

Key Food had acquired SuperFresh brand

Key Food acquired SuperFresh brand from A&P, and is planning to open several stores under SuperFresh brand in the future.

Key Food had acquired 24 stores from A&P in 2015. SuperFresh stores operated in Philadelphia, Baltimore-Washington and New Orleans.

SuperFresh banner will be used for larger format stores in suburban areas where Key Food plans to rebrand certain existing stores, as well as with new store acquisitions.

Save Mart to close 2 stores

Save Mart Supermarkets will close two struggling stores in the Sacramento area by March 19.

Save Mart stores that will be closed are located at 8839 Greenback Lane in Orangevale, and at 2735 Marconi Ave., in the Town & Country Village shopping center, Sacramento. The 2 stores to be closed have about 100 people employed.

Save Mart operates more than 200 stores in California and Nevada, with more than 10 stores in the Sacramento region.

ShopRite will start selling premium PL frozen shrimp

ShopRite, a grocery retailer with stores in the Nord-East will start to sell frozen shrimp that is preservative- and antibiotic-free.

The shrimp earned four stars for environmental and social responsibility from the Global Aquaculture Alliance. The Shrimp is available in cooked or raw frozen varieties.

The farms where ShopRite shrimp are raised follow responsible practices that minimize environmental impacts, respect worker rights, and produce food safely and sustainably.

Burger King will sell hot dogs

The restaurant chain will start selling hot dogs, in the biggest Burger King menu change in decades. With this change, the fast food chain wants to increase the sales at its restaurants.

Burger King plans to launch the hog dogs menu on February 23. Burger King says it is returning to its roots as a traditional fast-food outlet, after trying to offer salads and other healthier fare in the past with little success.
Other fast foods restaurants offer more healthier menus, like Chipotle, which says that its food is prepared with fresh ingredients.
Burger King said that hot dogs are the biggest menu addition since it started selling chicken in the 1970s.

Target Upgrades Market Pantry Brand

Target Market Pantry brand, which includes more than 1,900 products had received a new packaging, a more joyful look.

Target’s Market Pantry brand has become the go-to for busy guests and their families. The Market Pantry line offers every food product found on a grocery list, with trustworthy ingredients and affordable prices. In the 15 years since it first landed on the shelves, Market Pantry has grown into Target’s largest owned food brand, and one of our 10 owned brands that bring in $1 billion or more in annual sales.

“Turns out, guests loved Market Pantry’s great taste, quality and low prices, but they thought the packaging designs fell a little flat,” says Amanda Irish, vice president merchandise manager, Owned Brands. “Target’s known for great design, but the current, generic look and feel of Market Pantry just wasn’t reflecting that.”

The new look incorporates bright colors against a consistent red and white base, and varied background patterns that can be customized to fit packages of all sizes and shapes.

Hy-Vee sources all seafood from sustainable sources

Hy-Vee achieved 100 Percent of Grocery Store’s Fresh and Private Label Frozen Seafood Now Comes from Responsible Sources.

In 2011, Hy-Vee committed to procuring its fresh and frozen seafood from environmentally responsible sources by the end of 2015.

Hy-Vee’s intent is to sell high-quality seafood that is not only safe for consumption but also harvested or raised in a manner that provides for its long-term viability while minimizing damage to the environment and other sea life. To follow through on those commitments, Hy-Vee chose to transition all of its fresh and private label farmed salmon to responsible sources rated Yellow or Green by Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program, and supplement those options with wild Alaskan salmon.

“When you purchase Hy-Vee seafood, you are supporting best practices that will help ensure a healthy supply of seafood for generations to come,” said Greg Frampton, Hy-Vee’s vice president of meat and seafood operations. “Hy-Vee’s sustainability mission is to protect ocean resources and do business in a manner that promotes the well-being of our customers, employees, communities and the global environment.”

In 2016, Hy-Vee will expand its Responsible Choice Seafood Program to include other seafood categories, including shelf-stable tuna and sushi. With these additions, its 240 grocery stores can continue to maximize their impact on conservation and lessen their impact on the environment.

Hy-Vee is an employee-owned corporation operating 240 retail stores across eight Midwestern states with sales of $9.3 billion annually.

Winn-Dixie Opens Next Generation Store in Baymeadows

Winn-Dixie Baymeadows is an entirely new store concept. With a focus on stunning quality food, serving with personality and great value, this store has been tailored to the Baymeadows community and represents the start of an extensive Winn-Dixie store remodel program for 2016.

Ian McLeod, President and CEO of Southeastern Grocers – home of BI-LO, Harveys and Winn-Dixie said, “This store provides us with an opportunity to redefine what Winn-Dixie can provide for its customers in a contemporary, friendly and exciting in-store environment focused on stunning quality fresh food, specialty stores-within-stores and very competitive prices.”

“We are planning around 50 store remodels this year and believe this store represents a step change from where we have been, as well as a clear indicator on how we intend to satisfy our customers’ needs in the future,” continued Ian McLeod.

Sourcing from over 50 Florida farms, the store will feature quality produce displayed on ice, to maintain freshness and expanded varieties, including prickly pears, lychees and dragon fruit, and over 100 fresh, organic items.

Winn-Dixie Baymeadows offers over 4,000 natural and organic products and hosts the brand new, health food store-within-a-store called Naturally Better. Over 2,600 of these natural and organic products will be completely new.

The Kitchen will offer customers an in-house, stone hearth pizza oven and smokehouse. Brisket and pulled pork will be slow cooked in house for 10 - 12 hours, and Winn-Dixie chefs are making a signature pizza sauce and marinades from scratch.

Customers can pick up a hot brew of steaming coffee at the Café. With a trained barista on the team and coffee beans roasted on-site, customers can order a latte, cappuccino, espresso or cup of “Joe” and either sit and enjoy at the café style seating or conveniently place in their shopping cart’s cup holder – to sip their way down the aisles.

Other store features include:
Deli with more than 350 local and international artisanal cheeses and a trained American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Steward on-hand with recommendations and pairings. There will be up to 30-40 local artisanal cheeses, and this will be the first Winn-Dixie to offer a full-range of grass-fed cheeses.

Butcherto feature 100 percent natural Adena Meats and Florida Frank’s grass-fed, natural beef and organic chicken, USDA Choice Prime beef steaks, dry aged beef, Berkshire pork, Boar ribs and an expanded assortment of fresh sausages and natural packaged meats. There will be a dry aging meat case, in which chosen cuts of meat can be custom aged to a customer’s liking.

Bakery department includes fresh, hot mini-donuts made in-store, full dessert case featuring specialty cakes, a patisserie with local cupcakes from Cupcake 50 Etc., cheesecakes from the Cheesecake Factory and assorted artisanal breads. There will be at least 10 varieties of artisanal breads baked daily and 11 flavors of gluten-free bread. Customers will also enjoy bagels and butter croissants baked fresh daily.

A full-service seafood departmentoffering shoppers a variety of seafood assortments, including 4-Star BAP certified sustainable salmon and fresh catch of the day.

Winn-Dixie Baymeadows has also been designed to make shopping a little easier for parents. The store features mini shopping carts for children and educational engagement throughout the store, with “moo moo!” and “cluck cluck!” sound features located near the milk and eggs.

How to buy groceries online?

Google And Instacart offer the opportunity to shop for groceries online, from the comfort of your couch.
With traditional grocery stores offering a limited selection of products online, Google Shopping Express offers the solution to shop online from multiple stores, without the need to go to every website.

After purchasing the groceries your need, Instacart takes the groceries from the store to your house.
Instacart charges a fee for each delivery, starting as low as $2.99. For a membership fee, Instacart delivers all groceries to your house for free, and Google Shopping Express offers unlimited deliveries for a year with a $95 membership fee.

Lidl plans to enter into the United States market

Lidl has launched a new website detailing its preferred site criteria, and guidelines for potential suppliers, part of an effort to acquire sites for its US expansion.

Lidl intends to build stand-alone stores of 36,000 square feet in dense population markets in eight East Coast states between New Jersey and Georgia.

Lidl US, is a division of German retailer Schwarz Group, one of the largest grocery retailers in Europe. Lidl has more than 6,000 stores, located almost everywhere in Europe. About 3,000 stores are in Germany, making Germany Lidl's biggest national market.

Gelson's Markets opened a store in the Coachella Valley-area

Gelson’s Markets, one of California’s premier supermarket chains, opened its first-ever Coachella Valley-area store, located at 36-101 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage, on Thursday, January 28.
Gelson’s thanked its first 200 customers with a special gift bag valued at $20. In addition, all customers will have the opportunity to sample featured merchandise and dishes throughout opening week.

"Gelson’s has been looking for a great desert location for nearly 15 years, and we’re excited to come to Rancho Mirage,” says Gelson’s President & CEO Rob McDougall. “Our goal is to serve the local community by providing premium-quality merchandise and exceptional customer service, while also re-employing many of the dedicated employees of the former Haggen store."

Gelson’s remodeled the existing store, which now features new salad, hot foods and antipasti bars; a carving cart within the service deli; wellness set; and an enhanced juice and cut fruits counter. The Rancho Mirage store also features upgraded check stands and a customer service desk to facilitate the company’s signature service offerings.

The supermarket chain, long revered by chefs, celebrities and foodies in Los Angeles and Orange County, purchased eight Southern California locations from Haggen after the chain filed for bankruptcy in late 2015. Reopening quickly with some essential improvements was a priority in order to re-employ existing Haggen associates, some of whom have worked at the location for many years under previous ownership. A more extensive remodeling is slated later in 2016.

Gelson’s currently operates 18 full-service specialty grocery stores in Southern California. Each Gelson’s Market features the full amenities of a traditional supermarket, with the local flavor of a neighborhood market.

Sobeys to lower prices for produce

Sobeys, a Canadian grocery chain, has said that it would reduce prices on a large number of produce items at the Sobeys and Safeway stores.
The retailer will also offer weekly produce picks based on best quality, and tips from Chef Jamie Oliver.
A combined flyer for Sobeys and Safeway will be launched from January 29, 2016.
The retailer will introduce hundreds of new products, including private label products, and Western Canadian Sterling Silver AAA aged beef.
Sobeys is the second largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,500 supermarkets operating under a variety of banners.

Coborn's will offer Supervalu products

Coborn’s will offer to all stores products from the Supervalu. The retailer used the AFM wholesaler products for the four stores brought from Affiliated Foods Midwest.
Coborn's realized that the transportation was complicated by moving private label for all stores to Supervalu and also moving to Supervalu for all products at the Marketplace stores.
Coborn’s operates 54 supermarkets in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Coborn’s uses Topco’s Food Club as its private label.