McCain intends to acquire Midwest Foods
, from staff and wire reports

New Brunswick, Canada-based frozen food giant McCain Foods plans to acquire Midwest Foods Inc....

Nickels for Schools: Dairy enriches education
, from staff and wire reports

Kemps, the Minnesota-based dairy company, announced that its Nickels for Schools program (previously known as Give ’em Five) has generated more than $800,000 for about 3,200 K-12 schools in the Midwest....

Diamond Ranch Foods acquires Steiger Meats
, from staff and wire reports

Diamond Ranch Foods Ltd has acquired Steiger Meats, a New York City-based meat and poultry distributor and a distributor of Hebrew National products for the New York City metropolitan area. ...

FMCSA removes SafeStat data from web site
, from staff and wire reports

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has temporarily removed the motor carrier accident and safety evaluation area and overall SafeStat scores from its analysis and information web site. ...

Molson-Coors merger plans might go flat
, from staff and wire reports

Molson Inc’s planned merger with Adolph Coors Co may not have enough shareholders to endorse it because another offer may be considered soon....

Kroger deploys Dynamic Picking System
, from staff and wire reports

WITRON Integrated Logistics has successfully completed the Dynamic Picking System (DPS) for piece-pick operations in The Kroger Co’s Southeastern distribution center. ...

Perdue Farms to shut plant, move operations
, from staff and wire reports

Perdue Farms Inc plans to move production from its Showell MD poultry processing plant to nearby plants as part of a streamlining of its operations. ...

McLane division to aid IGA's Asian growth
, from staff and wire reports

IGA International plans to combine more than 150 retailers in Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, China, and the Philippines into a single Southeast Asian purchasing group. ...

Winn-Dixie sells meat facility to Smithfield
, from staff and wire reports

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc has sold its Dixie Packers manufacturing facility in Madison County, Florida to The Smithfield Packing Co Inc. ...

Quality Chekd, SECO to merge operations
, from staff and wire reports

A network of dairy co-operatives and other agricultural-based companies will enjoy cost savings, enhanced purchasing programs, and expanded resources when two purchasing organizations are consolidated Jan 1, 2005....

As bidders wait, Bruno's prepares for sale
, from staff and wire reports

Formal talks have begun between Bruno’s Supermarkets Inc and a union that represents many of the chain’s employees. ...

DFA no longer has milk monopoly, judge rules
, from staff and wire reports

A federal judge has ruled that Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) does not have a monopoly on school milk sold in parts of Kentucky and Tennessee....

Cargill plans to acquire Brazilian meat firm
, from staff and wire reports

Food and agriculture giant Cargill Inc has reached an agreement to acquire a majority share of Brazilian meat processor Seara Alimentos SA for about $130 million. ...

Swift & Co's 'stool' has the firm sitting pretty
, from staff and wire reports

Buoyed by continued outstanding pork sales and a strong finish to the year by its Australian beef segment, Swift & Co Inc reported record net income of $35.2 million on sales of $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ending May 30, 2004....

Costco Wholesale stacks up fiscal gains
, from staff and wire reports

Costco Wholesale Corp reported net sales of $3.65 billion for the four weeks ended Aug 29, 2004, a 7% increase from $3.42 billion in the same four-week period of the prior fiscal year....

SunOpta acquires Canadian distributor
, from staff and wire reports

SunOpta Inc has reached an agreement with the shareholders of Kofman-Barenholtz Foods Ltd to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of the company. ...

Albertson's 2Q earnings total $125 million
, from staff and wire reports

Albertson’s Inc, the Boise ID-based grocery chain, reported second-quarter 2004 earnings from continuing operations of $125 million. ...

Motion would keep HOS rules in effect
, from staff and wire reports

A motion filed August 30 by the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA) with the Washington DC Circuit Court of Appeals requests that the current hours-of-service (HOS) rules remain in effect until the agency enacts new rules....

US Foodservice, Health Express USA team up
, from staff and wire reports

Health Express USA Inc, parent company of the Healthy Bites Grill fast-casual restaurant concept in Florida, has entered into a master distributor agreement with US Foodservice....

Avocados help Calavo set quarterly record
, from staff and wire reports

Calavo Growers Inc, the Santa Ana CA-based packer and distributor of avocados and other perishable fruit products, reported fiscal 2004 third-quarter and nine-month results....

TIP adopts its parent company's name
, from staff and wire reports

Transport International Pool Inc has transitioned its TIP trailer leasing market brand in North America to that of its parent, the General Electric Co and will now offer its trailer fleet services portfolio directly under the name of GE....

ConAgra Foods recalls frozen chicken strips
, from staff and wire reports

ConAgra Foods has issued a voluntary recall of more than 85,000 pounds of its Banquet frozen chicken breast strips because they may contain pieces of metal....

Merger: Interbrew plus AmBev equals InBev
, from staff and wire reports

Interbrew SA, Belgium-based producer of Beck’s and Stella Artois beer, and Brazil’s AmBev (Cia de Bebidas das Americas) have completed a merger....

Wiseman Dairies wins key supply contract
, from staff and wire reports

Scotland-based Robert Wiseman Dairies has been awarded a £66 million-per-year (US $118 million) milk supply contract with United Kingdom supermarket giant Sainsbury. ...

Ahold falls short of its profit expectations
, from staff and wire reports

Netherlands-based Royal Ahold reported that its ailing United States supermarkets unit contributed to a profit of just 32 million euros, or $38.7 million. ...