An article earlier this month in a food news website called Eater revealed the companies that produce several of Trader Joe's beloved products. Most of the time people don't care which companies are behind the private label brands we buy in the grocery store, but since Trader Joe's won't fess us, and since suppliers are sworn to secrecy, it is indeed a big deal to some.
The folks at Eater used Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain FDA and USDA recalls and alerts that mentioned Trader Joe's, and the results revealed dozens of companies that supply, or have supplied, products for the popular retailer. For instance...
Pistachios - Wonderful Pistachios
Hummus - Tribe Mediterranean Foods
Smoothies and other assorted beverages - Naked Juice
Pita Chips - Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips
Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies - Tate's Bake Shop
Pretzel Slims and dark chocolate pretzels - Snack Factory
Organic animal crackers - Stauffer's
Of the items above, the only one that's more expensive at Trader Joe's compared to the name brand was the animal crackers. On average, the Trader Joe's products were 37 percent less expensive than their brand-name versions.
For more information, visit eater.com.
Showing posts with label USDA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USDA. Show all posts
Monday, August 21, 2017
Monday, March 20, 2017
Food deflation and competition hurting supermarket profit margins
A story this morning in USA Today reported that "low food prices and razor-sharp competition" are putting a serious dent into grocery chain profits. However, the issue is good news for consumers, who last year saw the first annual decline in supermarket prices since 1967.
According to Supermarket Analyst Phil Lempert, the low food prices and competition have created "a price war among everybody." This price war, combined with supermarkets' efforts to attract new customers (mainly via investments in pricing), have badly hurt profit margins.
According to the Agricultural Department's Economic Research Service, prices of supermarket items declined 1.3% in 2016 compared to the year before. The article cites confirming evidence from Wegmans and Costco, both of whom provided examples of recently lowered prices on items like bananas, peanut butter, eggs, pistachios and laundry detergent, among others.
The USDA said that meat, chicken and eggs have seen some of the biggest price cuts due to oversupply and lower than expected exports.
Kelly Bania, a senior analyst at BMO Capital Markets, added that "we're definitely in a prolonged deflationary period."
According to Supermarket Analyst Phil Lempert, the low food prices and competition have created "a price war among everybody." This price war, combined with supermarkets' efforts to attract new customers (mainly via investments in pricing), have badly hurt profit margins.
According to the Agricultural Department's Economic Research Service, prices of supermarket items declined 1.3% in 2016 compared to the year before. The article cites confirming evidence from Wegmans and Costco, both of whom provided examples of recently lowered prices on items like bananas, peanut butter, eggs, pistachios and laundry detergent, among others.
The USDA said that meat, chicken and eggs have seen some of the biggest price cuts due to oversupply and lower than expected exports.
Kelly Bania, a senior analyst at BMO Capital Markets, added that "we're definitely in a prolonged deflationary period."
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Pink Slime is gone, and so are thousands of workers
Up until recently, we've all been fine eating lean finely textured beef (LFTB). Dubbed as "pink slime" in 2002 by Gerald Zirnstein, then a USDA scientist, we've been eating it for years with no reported cases of foodborne illness due to its consumption. In fact, the USDA says it's safe.
Everything changed earlier this year. It's not that someone got sick or there was an outbreak of E.coli, which LFTB was created to combat. Rather, ABC News did a series of reports on pink slime (it gets better ratings than LFTB), and Change.org circulated a petition calling for its ban in school lunches that over a quarter of a million people signed.
Scientists make their case for both sides. As I mentioned, the USDA says it's fine. In addition, a nutritionist from The Center for Science in the Public Interest and a food policy writer noted that it's one of several chemicals routinely added to industrially-produced meat in the United States, and called it "unappetizing, but perhaps not more so than other things that are routinely part of a hamburger." Not exactly an endorsement, but not an indictment, either.
Anyway, all the well-intentioned people against LFTB must be very happy now. As a recent Supermarket News story reported, "The safety of the ingredient was never called into question, but links and conversations from Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites helped build consumer outrage, and most major supermarket chains quickly distanced themselves from the controversy."
In other words, grocery stores aren't carrying it, which means consumers won't be buying it anymore. Not sure that's going to change anyone's life, but wait...
AFA Foods in King of Prussia, PA, which produces more than 500 million pounds of ground beef per year, has filed for bankruptcy, citing the impact of the pink slime controversy. And Beef Products Inc., another supplier of the product, closed facilities in Iowa, Kansas and Texas last week. That's thousands of people out of work.
So, we're free of pink slime, apparently not because it's a danger to our health, but because some people think it's disgusting. I'm obviously not an expert on this issue, and I may be missing some important points, but the end result just rubs me the wrong way.
Everything changed earlier this year. It's not that someone got sick or there was an outbreak of E.coli, which LFTB was created to combat. Rather, ABC News did a series of reports on pink slime (it gets better ratings than LFTB), and Change.org circulated a petition calling for its ban in school lunches that over a quarter of a million people signed.
Scientists make their case for both sides. As I mentioned, the USDA says it's fine. In addition, a nutritionist from The Center for Science in the Public Interest and a food policy writer noted that it's one of several chemicals routinely added to industrially-produced meat in the United States, and called it "unappetizing, but perhaps not more so than other things that are routinely part of a hamburger." Not exactly an endorsement, but not an indictment, either.
Anyway, all the well-intentioned people against LFTB must be very happy now. As a recent Supermarket News story reported, "The safety of the ingredient was never called into question, but links and conversations from Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites helped build consumer outrage, and most major supermarket chains quickly distanced themselves from the controversy."
In other words, grocery stores aren't carrying it, which means consumers won't be buying it anymore. Not sure that's going to change anyone's life, but wait...
AFA Foods in King of Prussia, PA, which produces more than 500 million pounds of ground beef per year, has filed for bankruptcy, citing the impact of the pink slime controversy. And Beef Products Inc., another supplier of the product, closed facilities in Iowa, Kansas and Texas last week. That's thousands of people out of work.
So, we're free of pink slime, apparently not because it's a danger to our health, but because some people think it's disgusting. I'm obviously not an expert on this issue, and I may be missing some important points, but the end result just rubs me the wrong way.
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