Hershey’s Grabs More Candy Joseph Schmidt Added to Giant’s Arsen
While NBN doesn’t like the taste of Joseph Schmidt chocolates—they’re too waxy—back in 1989, upon first moving to San Francisco, we fell in love with Schmidt’s small chocolate shop on 16th street in the Castro district. Before distribution grew big, his store was a destination for all my out of town friends, gawking at the […]
Now For Some Good News—Money Talks, Antibiotics Walk—At Least A Little Bit
Okay so this doesn’t signify a revolutionary change in the way food is processed, but two items in today’s Supermarket News online edition suggest that the interests of agribusiness may be increasingly at odds with the concerns of those actually bring the foods to markets. Albertson’s announced the introduction all natural antibiotic and growth hormone […]
An RFID Tag Walked Into A Recycling Center
As reported in Supermarket News, the Fibre Box Association has commissioned a study to determine the impact of RFID tags on the recycling of boxes. Given the almost certain probability that RFID tags on boxes will soon begin to appear in recycling mills, the Association is looking at how to minimize the impact of these […]
Good For Your Toast
Aloetrade, an Argentinean Aloe maker announced the launch of its new aloe marmalade. While we won’t be buying any soon, NBN is in love with aloe, but the kind you spread on your skin, not on sprouted whole wheat bread Aloetrade’s marmalade is made from what the manufacturer’s claim is the less bitter aloe saponaria, […]
Echinacea Schmechinacea: NY Times Report Ignores Existing Literature
A study by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that there is no scientific evidence that Echinacea is helpful in combating colds. As noted in a press release by the American Botanical Council, “This is not a definitive trial on the efficacy […]
FDA Withdraws Veterinary Drug for Chickens
As reported in today’s USA Today, for the first time, the US Food & Drug Administration has banned the use of a veterinary drug, specifically an antibiotic used to treat diseased chickens, “because it has caused the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten human health.” Baytril, used since 1996 to treat respiratory illness in chickens […]
Scharffen Berger Slurped Up By Giant
Hershey Extends Reach To Upscale Chocolate Lovers Now that someone no longer owns Scharffen Berger we care for, it’s time to reveal a nasty comment made by a colleague earlier this spring. “The more I eat Dagoba, the more Scharffen Berger is starting to taste like Hershey.” We’ll see if the candy giant keeps the […]
Seventh Generation Meet Todd Oldham, Martha Stewart
Green Household Manufacturer Hits Shelves in 51 Target Stores As part of a test market Seventh Generation, the leading US manufacuturer of green household products launched end displays in 51 Target stores last week. As expected outlying San Francisco city, Daly City’s Target is one of these test stores. Stay tuned for a report from […]
Gardenburger, Seeks Buyers Former Veggie Burger King Continues Struggling
Not too long ago, when someone said ‘veggie burger,’ they meant Gardenburger. Today the company’s is synonymous with that familiar story: the industry leader and innovator becomes the industry loser, a has been, as the company rapidly loses sales to those that followed in its wake. So it is with no surprise that the long […]
Wild Oats Stock Gains Amidst Analyst Upgrade
Are California Store Sales Enough Reason for Hope? Wild Oats stock rose 7% on Friday on word that RBC Capital Markets graded Whole Foods poor stepsister to outperform based on their expected growth in sales for Southern California stores. Quarterly results will be released August 4th and while NBN hopes that Wild Oats stocks remains […]