Cold Foods Industry News

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Want a look inside retailers’ product development programs? Among speakers for the upcoming National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association’s (NFRA) annual Retail Executive Conference is James Sher, director of innovation and product development for Lund Food Holdings Inc.

The market for gluten-free foods and beverages grew at a compound rate of 28 percent from 2004 to 2008 with sales reaching an estimated $1.6 billion last year.

Refrigerated and frozen food processors developing green and/or sustainable products now can tap into analytic research from the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), Harleysville, Pa.

The Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chronicle reported that Rochester retailer Wegmans Food Markets opened a $36 million Culinary Innovation Center expansion at its meat shipping and receiving facility in Chili, N.Y.

Looking to capture those consumers trading down from casual restaurants, Burger King Corp., Miami, is testing more than 45 new menu items that can be prepared by a new, more flexible broiler cooker.

Citing heightened consumer interest in value-priced options, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Bentonville, Ark., re-launched its Great Value private label line.

Frozen vegetable giant Birds Eye Foods, Rochester, N.Y., said it hired Matthew Park as chief marketing officer.

Inland Cold Storage (ICS), Riverside, Calif., said it opened its sixth facility, a 4.5 million-cubic-foot frozen warehouse at the Port of Stockton in Stockton, Calif.

Hot Stuff Foods, Sioux Falls, S.D., said board member Jim Ilaria has become interim CEO following the resignation last month of John Fontana, who resigned to pursue other interests.

While some businesses are cutting back operations and personnel, one that isn't is Pace Dairy, a 35-year-old cheese processor in Rochester, Minn.