Following the trends, the Director of Import and Export of Carreteiro Alimentos, Lene Carneiro believes that this is a fertile field for research and commercial opportunities, "this being a focus of achievement in the industry for the current year," she said, in a recent interview to Business Review Brasil.

Also a target for 2012, the company will seek to develop more consistent trajectories, investing in research and development. "The goal is to create new products with higher added value in order to follow the wave of healthy food consumption and rapid preparation," says the of Import and Export of Carreteiro Alimentos, Lene Carneiro, In a recent interview for Business Review Brasil .

About Carreteiro Alimentos

Specialized in processing and distributing products - especially the various types of beans, rice, soybeans and olives - the company serves the market with a daily production of 1,500 tons of food.

Located in the neighborhood of Campo Grande, in Rio de Janeiro, the plant covers an area of ​​74,000 square meters and in order to increase production capacity, the company invested about $6 million in the Sapucaia branch in 2008.

About Food & Drink Digital

Food & Drink Digital is a pioneering digital media site for food and drink professionals and executives, featuring all aspects of managing a production based environment. Food & Drink Digital covers solutions that enable global businesses to improve the way they manage their operations, people, technology and supply chains. Food and Drink Digital is the industry-dedicated arm of the WDM Group. Founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Glen White, WDM Group retains a diversified portfolio of websites, magazines, mobile apps, daily news feeds and weekly e-newsletters that leverage technology to innovatively deliver high-quality content, analytical data, and industry news.

Food and Drink Digital is headquartered in San Diego, California, with additional offices in Boston, Toronto, Mumbai and Norwich, England. For more information, contact 760-827-7800 or visit http://www.foodanddrinkdigital.com/.

Press Contact

Sasha Orman
Food & Drink Digital
Telephone: (760) 827-7813
Email: Sasha.Orman@wdmgroup.com

Also with strong participation in the international market, serving countries in Africa, Asia, Middle East and Russia, today Friato works with a slaughter capacity of 210,000 birds per day and 85 tons of processed products - including varieties of Vienna sausages and bologna.
 

With heavy investments in domestic equipment, the company expanded its own hatchery which is now able to dispose about 6.5 million chickens per month. Surrounded by eucalyptus reforestation that creates a natural barrier, it has a modern central incubation with electronic equipment of the latest generation.
 

About Friato

Founded in 1993 and operating since 1995, NUTRIZA initial goal was the slaughter of 30,000 birds / day. In just one year this production had doubled and in 1998 it had already reached the milestone of 90,000 birds / day. In 1998 came the brand FRIATO, to ensure the "quality and good taste" in their brand new gifts.

FRIATO is now synonymous with commitment to the quality of its products. With a line that goes from the chicken fresh, frozen and chilled cuts to a diversified range of processed products, the company now has about 2,500 direct employees and another 5,000 indirect jobs.

About Food & Drink Digital

Food & Drink Digital is a pioneering digital media site for food and drink professionals and executives, featuring all aspects of managing a production based environment. Food & Drink Digital covers solutions that enable global businesses to improve the way they manage their operations, people, technology and supply chains. Food and Drink Digital is the industry-dedicated arm of the WDM Group. Founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Glen White, WDM Group retains a diversified portfolio of websites, magazines, mobile apps, daily news feeds and weekly e-newsletters that leverage technology to innovatively deliver high-quality content, analytical data, and industry news.

Food and Drink Digital is headquartered in San Diego, California, with additional offices in Boston, Toronto, Mumbai and Norwich, England. For more information, contact 760-827-7800 or visit http://www.foodanddrinkdigital.com/.

Press Contact
Sasha Orman
Food & Drink Digital
Telephone: (760) 827-7813
Email: Sasha.Orman@wdmgroup.com

Using all the experience in the coffee market to further enhance the characteristics of the brand, Sara Lee is showing strong investment in innovation. Winner of the Most Trusted Brands of 2011 survey, Pilão brand had its entire line reformulated and Damasco Café, besides the new look, got the new versions Flavor & Light and Intense.

Focusing on growth and expanding its horizons, as part of the acquisition of Café Damasco in a deal totaling $57 million last year, it also opened a factory in Salvador, in the estate of Bahia, home to the base of the regional sales office in the Northeast region. According to the President of Sara Lee, Dantes Hurtado, in a recent interview for Business Review Brasil, "our goal is to grow more strongly in the dynamic Northeast market, gaining a more competitive position in the region."

About Sara Lee

With more than 22 percent of the national market share, Sara Lee is a leader in the roasted and ground coffee market in Brazil. Originally American, the multinational company has operated in the country since 1998 and, through a strategic planning through acquisition of brands, the company now focuses all its operations in the coffee industry, owning leading brands.

With two factories, Sara Lee is responsible for producing the brands Pilão, Café do Ponto, Seleto, Caboclo, among others. Opened just over five years, the industrial plant of Jundiai, in the estate of São Paulo, is considered the largest and most modern plant of roasting and grinding coffee in Latin America.

About Food & Drink Digital

Food & Drink Digital is a pioneering digital media site for food and drink professionals and executives, featuring all aspects of managing a production based environment. Food & Drink Digital covers solutions that enable global businesses to improve the way they manage their operations, people, technology and supply chains. Food and Drink Digital is the industry-dedicated arm of the WDM Group. Founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Glen White, WDM Group retains a diversified portfolio of websites, magazines, mobile apps, daily news feeds and weekly e-newsletters that leverage technology to innovatively deliver high-quality content, analytical data, and industry news.

Food and Drink Digital is headquartered in San Diego, California, with additional offices in Boston, Toronto, Mumbai and Norwich, England. For more information, contact 760-827-7800 or visit http://www.foodanddrinkdigital.com/.

Press Contact

Sasha Orman
Food & Drink Digital
Telephone: (760) 827-7813
Email: Sasha.Orman@wdmgroup.com

10. EAT ST.
Developer: Invoke Media
Platforms: iPhone, Android

Another food truck app? You know it! (It’s actually crucial: one app might be aware of a new truck, while another might miss it completely. Then where would we be?) If you’re familiar with the show Eat St. on Food Network, you know it’s all about scouring North America in search of tasty food trucks and street vendors. The official Eat St. app operates under the same principle, helping users to find food trucks in their area using the power of GPS and keep track of their Twitter feeds.

9. EVERNOTE FOOD
Developer: Evernote
Platforms: iPhone

The newest release from Evernote isn’t really about finding new eateries so much as it is about building a better file of the places you’ve been. After all, there’s nothing worse than happening upon a great little hole-in-the-wall restaurant, eating an amazing meal, and then never being able to find it again. Evernote Food helps users keep track through photos and text. Unlike a lot of other apps, whether you choose to share your thoughts or keep it like a diary is entirely up to you. 

8. LOCAL DISH
Developer: Pinojo Productions
Platforms: iPhone

When it comes to knowledge about the best local haunts, who do you trust? Food bloggers, of course! Local Dish is an aggregator app that compiles food blogs from your area, starting you off with a few it has deemed trustworthy and allowing you to add more of your own. Get the scoop on good and bad experiences first hand, and use them to make informed decisions about your next culinary excursion. 

7. GRUBHUB
Producer: GrubHub, Inc
Platforms: iPhone, Android

It’s happened to even the best of us. Too tired to haul ourselves to our own kitchen, much less down the street to the corner taco shop, we resign ourselves to ordering delivery – and half the time, out of pure laziness and ease of ordering, it ends up being from a massive franchise. GrubHub’s job is to make ordering out from mom-and-pop joints just as easy. Just type in your address, and the app will not only give you a list of every nearby restaurant that delivers, but provides the necessary contacts so that ordering is just one more click away. 

6. ROAMING HUNGER
Producer: Roaming Hunger, Inc
Platforms: iPhone, Android

We love our food trucks, and it’s essential to be on the ball or you might miss one. Roaming Hunger is a simple app that helps users stay on top of their food truck game with a pushpin map of food trucks in the area, plus a stylishly rendered parade of recent tweets as the trucks shout out where they’ll be next. Run across a truck you’re unfamiliar with? Roaming Hunger can fill you in with the truck’s manifesto, contact info, Twitter account, and even a menu link to aid in your lunchtime decision. 

5. FOODSPOTTING
Producer: Foodspotting, Inc
Platforms: iPhone, Android, Blackberry

A picture’s worth a thousand words, especially when it’s a picture of mouthwatering food. Foodspotting works kind of like a visual-based Yelp, letting user-generated photographs pique your interest in nearby restaurants. You have the choice of browsing recent snaps, or searching for nearby restaurants by location or genre and then and thumbing through the results. To make a sport of it, try hitting every point on a helpful city guide. 

4. TAP HUNTER
Developer: Ocean Breeze Software, LLC
Platforms: iPhone, Android

What’s better than local food? Local beer to go with it. Founded by San Diegans Melani and Jeff Gordon, Tap Hunter is devoted to helping craft beer fanatics connect with their local favorites. Have a favorite brew? Tap Hunter can tell you where it’s being poured so that you can, well, hunt it down. (The app also updates frequently, a critical point considering how fast a small batch of craft beer can be drained once word gets out.) Not sure what you want? Just click on the nearest pub, shake your smartphone, and play Tap Hunter suggestion roulette. Everyone wins.

3. YELP
Developer: Yelp
Platforms: iPhone, Android

While it can be easy to get lost in Yelp’s sprawling websites full of message boards and picky eaters, its mobile app is clean and concise with a homepage of easy to follow icons. The app draws from your GPS location to help you find tasty restaurants wherever you are, and then allows you to check in so you can tell your army of Yelp buddies all about it.  

2. URBANSPOON
Developer: Urbanspoon
Platforms: iPhone, Android

What’s worse than that back and forth with your group of friends, when you’re all hungry but no one knows exactly what they want or where they want to get it from? Urbanspoon is an app that neatly removes all the guesswork. If location is your only concern, a tap on the “nearby” icon will reveal everything in your area. If you’re seriously stumped, check out “shake.” Lock one, two, or all three of the slot machine-style categories, then hit the shake button (or physically shake your smartphone, it’s more fun that way) and let the answers be your guide.

1. LOCAVORE
Developer: Hevva Corp.
Platforms: iPhone, Android

Sure, the term “farm-to-table” might be getting overused. But whether you’re cooking for yourself, family, or an audience of customers, preparing fresh, local, seasonal ingredients will never get old. One of Locavore’s most immediate benefits is its timetable of what’s in season right now as well as what’s coming up next so you can plan your menu accordingly. Locavore can pinpoint your location and direct you to the nearest farmer’s markets as well as farms with detailed lists of what each one grows, so you have no excuse not to try your hand at eating what’s grown in your own backyard. Then once you’re done you can use the app to post what you’ve eaten to every social media outlet of your choice because, well why not? It’s what we do these days. 

Smit Orchards is one of those vendors. The Central California-based farm’s apples and cherries come certified by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), the leading trade and certification organization in the country. According to Mat, who works the register at the Smit Orchards stall, that proof of certification makes a world of difference for customers – and in turn, makes a difference for vendors and producers. It’s a trend that has been growing strongly over the past few years, no doubt spurred on by a rising concern among the general public over food safety standards.  

“People want to know what’s in their food,” concurs Jane Wade, Development Specialist at CCOF. “Organic Certification is the only food system that actually has standards, regulations, requirements, and organizations like the CCOF that ensure you’re meeting those standards and requirements.” In short, Organic Certification is a simple way of providing consumers with an awful lot of information about what they’re buying.

That is not to say that obtaining organic certification is simple. To the contrary, organic certification is a rigorous process filled with strict guidelines meant to bring farms up to code with organic standards dictated by the USDA.

“There are different requirements depending on what you’re doing,” says Wade. “If you’re growing on the ground, your soil has to be without prohibited materials for at least three years. You must be planting organic seeds or starts, and you must be using organic growing methods – that means crop rotation, maintaining the fertility of the soil, and not using synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. The main idea is to keep the poison out of the food, and at the same time to maintain the strength of the growing system by maintaining soil fertility.”

Those three years are not years that go unchecked: farms are expected to draft an Organic System Plan and keep extensive harvesting and planting logs, keeping track of everything from schedules to any time fertilizers or other inputs (USDA organic standards-approved, naturally) are used. The rules can even extend to physical restrictions like how many feet away a farm’s crops are from a neighboring farm using conventional methods – and farms are also subject to frequent visits from inspectors to make sure that everything is up to snuff. If an error is made or evidence of unapproved chemicals is uncovered, farms are sent back to square one to restart the three-year process.

Then there is the cost. When done through the CCOP, the certification process starts with an initial $275 application fee. After that, each inspection can run several hundred dollars. Once a farm passes muster and is officially certified, it is subject to yearly fees that can run into thousands according to the CCOP’s Gross Organic Production Value table. “People always want to know why organic fruit costs more,” remarks Audrey, who works at the Smit Orchards stall alongside Mat. “It doesn’t cost more to grow organic fruit – it’s because of getting them Certified Organic.”

It’s a process that can be frustrating to farmers who use organic methods but aren’t as interested in the costly financial barriers and red tape standing between their crops and organic certification, or others who have been derailed from the three-year organic plan by persistent pests or other complications. It has led some to begin searching for an alternative to official organic certification through labels like “sustainable.”

“’Sustainability’ is where you grow organically but you don’t pay the certification fee to be certified organic,” notes Mat. “Then it leaves you that window where you can spray to get rid of pests or whatever is going to ruin your crop as a last resort kind of deal. That’s a new term that they’re trying to get passed – it’s like a new style of growing.”

But Wade points out that, by definition, such terms lack the kind of concrete information that a Certified Organic seal of approval provides. “You can label a product as ‘natural’ or ‘sustainable,’ but that only means what you say it means,” she notes. “When you have to have your product certified in order to label it ‘organic,’ you are saying that it meets very specific requirements and standards and regulations and that there’s someone backing that up. Your certifier, whose name is also on your label, is backing up that you’re meeting those requirements and that you continue to meet them over time.”

And ultimately, providing that customer satisfaction is precisely why so much of the farmers' market crew ends up making the effort necessary to certify their products. “I think legitimacy is the main thing,” says Mat. “It’s kind of interesting. People want that little sticker.”

____________________________________________________________

Interested in having your own products certified organic? Visit CCOF.org for more information on how to start the process. 

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

When it comes to expansion in South America, Brazil is one to watch. Experts have named it one of the top emerging markets in the world, with a very strong middle class demographic compared to most countries of its size, and multiple sources have noted the rising popularity of franchises within Brazil over the past few years. The fact that Rio de Janeiro is set to host both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics also means that lots of hungry tourists will be flocking to the country, making it prime real estate for foodservice franchises to keep them all well-fed.  

Some businesses have already caught on. Quizno’s, for instance, attempted to jumpstart its profits in mid-2011 by signing a franchise agreement deal with Brazil Best Food Inc. to develop as many as 200 shops throughout the country.  But with 486 square miles and over 6 million residents to work with, there is still plenty of room to grow your business in the heart of South America’s biggest property.

SHANGHAI, CHINA

In some ways, this entry is a no-brainer. In terms of franchising, China’s growth over the past several years has been tremendous – and tremendously public. A population of 1.3 billion means an incredible amount of potential customers, especially in densely packed cities full of commuters who are looking for a fast and convenient bite to eat. As the largest city in the country, Shanghai contains both a major workforce at the ready, and a growing business class that is eager to spend.

Still, there are considerations that have to be made when growing a franchise business in China. According to experts, it’s a country that is still very much entrenched in cultural traditions that are different from Western ideas and business practices, which can make expansion difficult for those who are caught unprepared. Those franchises that have done spectacularly well – Yum! Brands and McDonald’s immediately spring to mind – have done so by not being afraid to break out of their domestic comfort zones. But by appropriating Chinese flavors into menus and taking cues from local trends like delivery services, a shrewd franchise owner can also find a slice of success in China.

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM

China isn’t the only country undergoing massive growth – in fact, much of Asia is booming and primed for business building, including Vietnam. As the country’s heavily populated capital and economic center, Ho Chi Minh City in particular has been subject to an extreme amount of growth in recent years and is showing no signs of slowing down. The city is already home to several franchise-friendly outposts such as colleges, shopping centers, and major transportation hubs such as Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Even so, many more new urban centers are under development for the near future.

It isn’t just locals that are contributing to the city’s commerce, either: 70 percent of all tourists in Vietnam pass through Ho Chi Minh City. Dunkin’ Brands Inc. is the first to enter Vietnam in the new year, introducing the country to Baskin-Robbins by way of three new units in Ho Chi Minh City in January. The next in line could be you. 

“I’m not a wine connoisseur, but I do love a refreshing, great tasting glass of wine and that’s what I’ve created,” says Frankel on her Skinnygirl website. Because this new endeavor is within the Skinnygirl line, the hook is that it’s low-calorie – at 100 calories per serving, Frankel touts it as “15 percent lower than most other brands.” How exactly does one cultivate special “low calorie” wine? We’re not exactly sure, though according to a piece in Wine Spectator Frankel attributes her brand’s caloric properties to paying special attention to grape variety and ripeness at harvest.

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Of course, Wine Spectator also notes that 100 calories per serving is actually the average for a glass of wine. But hey, that varies from bottle to bottle. What’s more, the squeaky wheel gets the grease – most wines don’t make it a point to mention their nutritional values, and someone whose primary concern is counting calories will be a lot more likely to pick up a bottle of Skinnygirl based on brand recognition (and the built-in implication of weight loss) alone. For those who are in the market for a skinnier glass of wine, get ready: Bethenny’s red, white, and rosé blends will be hitting store shelves this April for the low price of $15 a bottle.

[SOURCE: Wine Spectator via Eater; PHOTO: Skinnygirl]

The assembly bill isn’t meant to be malicious. Rather, it’s made with the best intentions in mind – backed by the group California Food Policy Advocates, it comes from a place of apprehension that students might be stuffing themselves with Atomic Warheads and Bomb Pops from the local ice cream truck instead of a nutritious and balanced lunch. In theory, it’s a valid concern.

“All students deserve access to healthful food. The mobile vending of unhealthful snacks like ice cream, chips, and sugar sweetened beverages near school campuses undermines efforts to provide students with the nutrition they need,” stated Monning in a press release. “At a time when childhood obesity is at epidemic levels, we must ensure that our school environments foster student wellness.” Monning also noted that food trucks near school campuses give students incentive to leave during lunch, which “increases students' exposure to off-campus hazards such as heavily trafficked streets."

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But the problem that makes this bill so misguided is that doesn’t just target ice cream trucks. (And hey, who doesn’t love ice cream trucks anyway?) It puts all mobile vending at risk, including those selling fresh, local, healthful cuisine that most kids could only dream of for lunch – after all, in a world where pizza sauce is a vegetable, let’s not kid ourselves that a school-provided lunch is always the best option for healthful food.

And here’s the other thing – students with off-campus lunch privileges are going to go off-campus for lunch. It’s just a given. Even students without official off-campus lunch privileges will still find a way to turn homeroom period into an opportunity for a burrito lunch. It’s just a fact of life. But with fast and fresh food trucks in play, at least kids can have options beyond the usual fast food franchises and convenience stores.

A map of Sacramento school buffers quickly illustrates exactly what a drastic effect this bill could have on the mobile food industry. Concerned California citizens are urged to contact Monning at 916-319-2027 (Capitol office), 831-425-1503 (Santa Cruz district office) or at assemblymember.monning@assembly.ca.gov.

[SOURCE: Sacramento Bee; Sacto Mofo via San Diego Food Trucks; PHOTO: capl@washjeff.edu]

Point #1: Make Sure Your Plans Check Out

”For anybody who wants to start a business, whether it’s a mobile food facility or a food truck or a restaurant or a deli: the very first step is going through a department called the Plan Check Unit,” says Encarnacion. “This is the part of the department that handles the preliminary steps where things are approved first on paper.”

In the County of San Diego, the Plan Check and Construction Unit is responsible for reviewing and approving the plans of any new restaurant, and that includes food trucks – or, as the Department of Environmental Health refers to them, Mobile Food Facilities. Why start with plans on paper? “Because sometimes people will construct their own mobile food facility, but there are certain rules that are based on the state health code that dictate what the parameters are and the local jurisdiction has the responsibility to apply that law,” says Encarnacion.

Just as health inspectors examine brick-and-mortar restaurants to ensure they’re up to code, they also examine food trucks to make sure that handlers have their certificates and that the trucks themselves are up to code (an especially important point if you are planning to go with a refurbished or retrofitted food truck instead of a shiny new model built specifically for the job).

Fortunately the Plan Check website offers a fairly comprehensive compendium of information about the technical side of the business all in one place, from Mobile Food Facilities operational guide to the application you will eventually need to submit. “The plan check unit is basically a good place to start for people who know the business they want to get into,” notes Encarnacion, who also provides the Plan Check phone number 858-505-6659 for more detailed questions about starting your business.

Point #2: Make Sure The Rules You’re Reading are the Right Rules for You

You work hard to make sure you’re in compliance with every rule in the guidelines, only to have your food truck shut down because you failed take into account your jurisdiction – it’s scary, but it could happen.

“In every jurisdiction in the state of California, retail food is regulated at the local level,” says Encarnacion – differentiating the world of food trucks from wholesale foodservice, which covers businesses that only sell food to other production businesses and is regulated by the state. “Every city – and even every jurisdiction in the county of San Diego – may have differing rules. If you want to operate a mobile food facility, aside from the health department you want to also make sure that you’re also in line with the rules that are applicable to the jurisdiction you want to operate in.”

One county’s rules may be another county’s trash –the laws on mobile food facilities can vary drastically from city to city, let alone state to state, making it critical to understand your particular city’s laws before setting up a home base. 

Point #3: Partner Up with a Central Commissary

You have a cook top in your truck and a kitchen at home – that’s everything you need, right? Unfortunately, there’s a lot more planning involved in food truck operations than that. Just like every ship needs a port, every food truck needs a central commissary to refuel and restock. More than just an industrial kitchen, a commissary includes space for trucks to park at night and receive maintenance, hookups for potable water uptake and wastewater discharge, and plenty of room to store and prep food in regulated sanitary conditions. 

“A mobile food facility is required to operate out of a central commissary,” notes Encarnacion. “What we don’t want happening is a truck operating from a private residence – which will never be approved, for obvious reasons.” While the San Diego Department of Environmental Health doesn’t have a complete list of central commissaries posted online, your local chapter should be able to help you locate a commissary that will complement the needs of your unique concept.  

Point #4: Don’t Forget to Have Fun With It

When you’re knee-deep in plan drafts and paperwork, it can be tough to remember that the Department of Health isn’t there to rain on your parade. But in reality, they’re actually fans of the food truck trend just as much as the next guy.

“It’s a great, innovative way that we’ve seen retail food industry adhere to the laws of the people, and people enjoy this type of food service,” notes Encarnacion. “We’re here to be in partnership with industry to ensure that you not only have a good experience in getting into the business, but know the rules to make sure that your customers have a safe and good time.”

So get out there and realize your dreams – just make sure you keep it clean and keep it safe, and the law will be on your side. 

SELL

Whether you produce potatoes or homemade peanut butter – if you have something to sell, you can sell it at a farmers’ market. Even restaurants can get in on the action by setting up a stall and whipping up your signature dishes. (A crepe shop that sets up shop at San Diego’s Little Italy Mercato frequently enjoys lines halfway down the block.)

How you can get started selling at a farmers’ market depends on your region, but most are somewhat similar in terms of general guidelines. As the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) tells those curious individuals, start with the basics: “Get a copy of the market rules from the market manager.” If you’re lucky, the farmers’ market you’re looking to sell your wares at will host rules and regulations on its website like Bay Area’s California Farmers’ Market Association. But otherwise, get in contact with your local market manager.

You’ll likely be required to supply a fee (think of it like rent on your booth space) and the appropriate equipment to run your stand – a display stand if one isn’t provided, a cash box, a banner, and a scale for weighing and pricing your product if you’re selling by the pound. You may also need a Certified Producers’ Certificate to prove your authority to sell at a legitimate Certified Farmers’ Market, and if you’re producing a product like jams or baked goods you may be required to conduct your prep work in an industrial kitchen. But as long as you’re aware and in compliance with regulations, you should be well on your way to a farmers’ market stand of your own.

VOLUNTEER

Farmers’ markets may be de rigueur right now, but even at the height of their trendiness many tend to rely on the kindness of volunteers to take an interest in the cause. A farmers’ market volunteer might be tasked with manning the information booth, collecting e-mail addresses for newsletters, or other small tasks throughout the duration of the event. You may even get payment in the form of market vouchers for the hours of time and energy you’ve contributed, and still another upside is building rapport with the vendors who are out there every week and learning your way around the best booths at the market.  

Much like vending, volunteering starts with contacting your local market’s manager. If your market has a website, check out the appropriate contacts and shoot them a line asking how you can help. If not, try the information booth next time you’re there. Someone will surely be glad you asked.

RALLY

What if you don’t have a farmers’ market in your town? You may not be able to build yourself a grocery store, but with enough determination and activism you can bring a farmers’ market to fruition. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that over a thousand new farmers’ market locations have opened across the country in the last year alone.

There’s no question: it’s a lot of work, requiring research into everything from community demand and how many vendors take interest to zoning restrictions and accessibility issues. MDAR also has a great resource site for starting a farmers’ market in your area that is well worth a read wherever you are. 

RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources – A great source for farmers, farmers’ market managers, and consumers with information on shopping, vending, and producing a farmers’ market. Valuable information even for non-residents of Massachusetts.

Organic Authority – A more simplified list of steps to take when planning a farmers’ market, and a good jumping-off point.

California Farmers’ Market Association – The website for a Bay Area collective of farmers’ markets, this has a comprehensive list of rules and guidelines posted online that can give anyone a general idea of what to expect when attempting to open a vending stall at a market. 

Enter the Cesium Iodide Scintillator (CIS), an innovative-device engineered to detect toxic amounts of Iodide on most surfaces including food. Yes the name itself is a futuristic sounding mouthful, but the CIS is actually the most sensitive device for monitoring gamma radiation around. Traditionally used by a select few, the CIS is currently undergoing a cutting-edge transformation, making it a usable function for everyday Smartphones.

Developed by Universal Detection Technology, in agreement with Honeywell International, the Smartphone application would work off Bluetooth technology, picking up a food’s gamma ray levels, and transferring them to be processed by the phone’s CIS application. In addition to immediate personal detection, the application aims to make information obtained through the device sharable with whole communities via social networking and mapping applications. 

RADIOACTIVE FISH REACHES US

While this far-out invention may not seem practical to the masses, the recent nuclear happenings suggest otherwise. The recent Fukushima disaster nationally impacted Japan in horrifying and shocking ways, but it also made a dramatic global impact, as the nation outsourced a vast amount of everyday consumables to nations around the world, including the U.S.A.

In Japan, radiation contaminated beef, dairy, spinach, shitake, fish and even baby food, were some of the food discovered to contain toxic amounts of radiation after hitting the marketplace. Trusting customers bought and consumed the goods, which unknown to them possessed five times the legal amount of Iodine 131. Since the toxic Iodide is not visible to the naked eye, and not always detectable by taste, the damage entirely blindsided the eater. Biologically, such exposure could dramatically increase the risks of certain cancers, and if consumed in a large enough quantity, cause immediate damage to the thyroid. However, experts say most adults would not suffer drastic immediate harm from consuming food contaminated at the Fukushima levels, but babies could, as their vulnerable biological systems are at the greatest risk for damage to nuclear exposure.

While the rest of the world did not suffer through such critical circumstances, they were still exposed to radioactive foods, particularly large shipments of sushi-grade fish. Many American sushi restaurants import some of their top selling fish including Yellowtail and Tuna from Japan, and for the most part, all of this fish is eaten raw.

So how important is this CIS device? What is the likely hood that the average American consumer will run into a disaster of this proportion again? Judging by Japan’s recent nuclear meltdown track record, the answer is: pretty likely.

However, the device may have more fun in it than solely tracking toxic gamma levels in nuclear fallout food supplies. Since most of America’s food is made in the dark, dripping, labyrinth of some dungeon like factory, 

I think many  Americans would be interested to know how common American cuisine staples like Twinkies and Flaming Hot Cheetos, will register on the detector. While finding out the radiation levels of everyday food may sound like a fun Friday night at the local neighborhood Quicky-Mart, I don’t think it would keep any true-blooded American from eating such cherished American delicates. Ultimately, the Cesium Iodide Scintillator’s application for the Smartphone’s usefulness may not be in the data collected, but in how, or if, we use such relevant information.  

Tim Mather and Greg Avola, the app’s co-founders, had been playing around with the concept of a Foursquare-like social media application for a while before hitting on the right subject. “There had been some other ones in the space that talked about checking in to movies or television shows,” says Avola, the New York-based half of the team. “But nothing around beer – which is a social activity to begin with, but was never really put on a pedestal on the web like that.”

Everything fell into place after that. Mather and Avola had developed a prototype, and launched a web-based beta version in September of 2010. By the end of October 2011 the team had publicly launched Untappd in its full glory, complete with native apps for iPhone and Android and catchy new features – many of them user-requested – like the ability to rate a beer or “toast” the selections of your friends (“similar to a ‘like’ on Facebook”). By now, the app can boast over 100,000 users and is approaching four million check-ins.

“We were just kind of playing around with it,” says Avola. “We didn’t think it would come to much, to be honest with you. But it really has exploded over the past couple months, and it’s definitely been real exciting to watch.”

So far Mather and Avola, along with product manager John Vajda, have put emphasis on the consumer experience end of the product – but the next step for Untappd is bringing breweries themselves into the fold by allowing them to “claim” their beers, another move similar to restaurants taking charge of their own properties on Foursquare. This new feature is designed to have some major benefits for breweries interested in boosting their social media outreach. As outfits like Brooklyn Brewery (among the first to partner up) display, breweries will be able to claim their own domain name and take control of their portfolio with proper spellings, labels and descriptions, making it easier for fans to find and connect with them.

Another benefit, which the Untappd team considers especially significant, is that the new features will allow breweries to extract more valuable real-time insights from the data that’s constantly being generated by check-ins, like where and when beers are being consumed.

“It kind of brings it all full circle,” says Avola. “Right now, a lot of times breweries tend to communicate with people outside of Untappd; we’d like to bring that kind of communication within the platform. We think it’s going to be a major thing. Being able to have real-time insight into how your brewery’s doing with real-time stats is something that hasn’t been done before in this kind of industry.”

Untappd already has a lot going on, and there’s a lot to look forward to in the near future, but Avola acknowledges that his team’s work on perfecting their product is far from done. That’s probably because, much like brewmasters and their beers, the Untappd team is an unabashed fan of its own product. “A lot of people build applications, but they don’t use them,” he points out. “We’re users, and also the builders. So we want to make sure that it’s good enough for everyone, and that it’s good enough for us. We want to continually keep building it to make sure it meets the needs of the consumers.”

“It’s been a fun ride so far,” he adds. When it comes to beer and being social, that’s exactly as it should be. 

NEW HOLLAND, Pa., Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Alouette® Cheese announced the introduction of a new line of deliciously spreadable cheddar cheeses. Featuring a full body and fine robust flavor, the new spreadable flavors – Sharp Cheddar Cheese and Bacon Cheddar Cheese – are both perfect for serving as a snack or for entertaining guests.

Available in a convenient, ready-to-serve 6 oz. container, the creamy, savory cheddars can be served with crackers or pretzels, spread on a sandwich or slice of bread, or used to add great flavor to a traditional mac 'n cheese dish. The new cheddars are available in the deli section of supermarkets across the country and retail for $4.99.

"Bacon is a top 10 food trend of the decade according to the Food Network, and cheddar is the world's best selling cheese," said Director of Marketing New Products, Cristina Anton Villa. "We are very enthusiastic to add two new cheddar flavors to an award-winning line up that already includes Alouette Garlic & Herbs and Alouette Savory Vegetable Soft Spreadable Cheese."

The new cheddar flavors offer the same quality and superior taste that consumers have come to expect from a beloved brand like Alouette. Several product attributes include:

• Made with Grade A Milk
• Made with 12-month aged cheddar
• Kosher Certified (OUD)
• Gluten-free

Greg Gable, Executive Chef for Alouette, has created new serving suggestions incorporating the new cheddars. Alouette also offers recipes, serving suggestions, entertaining tips and nutritional values on www.alouettecheese.com.  

About Alouette

The Alouette® brand has grown over the years, extending its unique line of cheeses to include a wide variety of Alouette Spreadable Cheese flavors as well as other specialty cheese products, such as the 2011 Chef's Best® award-winning Alouette Baby Brie. Today, Alouette is a leading brand in the Specialty Cheese Category in the United States and is the #1 brand of Premium Spreadable Cheese.

The Chef's Best Award for Best Taste is awarded to the brand rated highest overall among leading brands by independent professional chefs. For more information regarding American Culinary Chef's Best, visit www.chefsbest.org.

About Chef Greg Gable

Chef Greg Gable joined Alouette Cheese USA, LLC in 2007 as Executive Chef.  Gable first acquired critical acclaim during his 13 years at Le Bec-Fin, one of Philadelphia's finest dining institutions. He has also received several accolades, such as the Philadelphia Inquirer's 3 Bells Award of Excellence and the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.  Gable is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

SOURCE Alouette

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawmakers have an opportunity to modernize the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) and generate $75 million a year in new state revenues which could be used to forestall some of Gov. Corbett's proposed budget cuts.

Senate Bill 1287, now pending before the Senate Law & Justice Committee, would free the PLCB to operate like a modern, wholesale and retail business and deliver a greater return for all Pennsylvania taxpayers.

"This legislation is just plain old common sense and now is the time for lawmakers to support modernizing this valuable public asset," said Wendell W. Young IV, President, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 and Chairman, UFCW PA Wine and Spirits Council.

"It makes a lot more sense to generate $75 million more each year in revenue than it does to cut higher education, basic education and the safety net for vulnerable Pennsylvanians," Young added.

Young noted that the PLCB already provides the Commonwealth with more than $500 million a year in revenue – after paying all expenses for the agency's operation – and employs more than 5,000 Pennsylvanians.

Senate Bill 1287 would eliminate the one size fits all pricing structure now in place and allow more flexibility based on the market and demands of customers. The legislation would also provide greater flexibility in hiring outside the Civil Service System.

Finally, the bill would allow the PLCB to institute a more efficient and modern procurement process to take more advantage of the agency's purchasing power.

"As members of the Senate Appropriations Committee focus on the PLCB and the budget, we are encouraging them to help close the gap by supporting this legislation," Young added.

"The PLCB has made tremendous strides in the past 20 years to transform itself into a world class retail operation and our members have supported that effort throughout. This legislation would be another great step forward."

For more information, please visit www.ufcwpawineandspiritscouncil.com.

SOURCE UFCW PA Wine and Spirits Council

Healthy Recipes and Technical Assistance Available Free to Any School in the Country through Alliance's Healthy Schools Program

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- iCarly star Reed Alexander is taking his passion for healthy food into school cafeterias to motivate millions of kids to make healthy choices. The 17-year-old celebrity food star and breakthrough actor collaborated with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to create four fresh and healthy school lunch recipes available at no cost to every school in the U.S. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation is a non-profit organization founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation to reverse the prevalence of childhood obesity. 

"Getting kids excited about the delicious food they eat at school and inspiring them to make better choices when it comes to their meals is very important to me," says Alexander. "I'm honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and provide thousands of schools nationwide with recipes that students will enjoy."

By working together, the Alliance and Reed have created kid-tested, school-friendly recipes that meet the Alliance's strict nutritional criteria for school meals. Building on the Alliance's successful launch of healthy school meal recipes developed by television personality and author Rachael Ray in the fall of 2011, Reed's recipes will inspire millions of students to try healthier options in their school cafeterias across the country. Parents and school staff can access Reed's school meal recipes by visiting the Alliance's website at www.healthiergeneration.org.

"We know it is important to provide school-friendly healthy recipes to school nutrition professionals, but we also can't forget the importance of getting students excited about trying those healthier options," said Ginny Ehrlich, CEO of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. "By working with Reed, we are able to leverage his celebrity status with students across the country and raise awareness of the importance of eating a healthy school lunch."

Alexander is best known by kids everywhere for starring as the infamous Nevel Papperman on Nickelodeon's No.1 rated comedy iCarly. When he's not filming, Reed turns his kitchen into his own science lab, experimenting with ingredients and creating his own recipes, many of which he shares on his website KewlBites.com. An online destination for healthy recipe ideas, exercise tips, and celebrity interviews, KewlBites.com attracts a diverse audience from children and parents, to the nation's foremost medical and fitness authorities.

Since 2010, Alexander has collaborated with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to share his personal story and inspire kids to live a healthy lifestyle.  Alexander serves as a Champion of the Alliance, encouraging young people to eat healthier, move more and get involved with the Alliance through national media outreach, event appearances and sharing content between HealthierGeneration.org and Alexander's website KewlBites.com.

The school-friendly recipes were piloted in six school districts in various regions throughout the U.S. including California, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.  Recipes were evaluated based on food service staff and student feedback. The four recipes are a twist on classic salads and pizzas served in cafeterias. The available recipes include:

• Kewl Tuna Salad Flatbread
• Asian Salad Bowl
• Cranberry, Pear, Provolone Salad Pizza
• South of the Border Salad Pizza

The four recipes meet the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's school nutrition guidelines. The science-based guidelines, which meet or exceed USDA final guidelines released in January 2012, focus on increased lean protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat and fat-free dairy in addition to reduced total fat, saturated fat and sodium levels. 

"Schools are always looking for fun and creative ways to introduce healthier options to their students," says Helen Phillips, President of the School Nutrition Association, and Senior Director of School Nutrition for the Norfolk Public Schools in Virginia who piloted the recipes with her students. "With their fun healthy spin on 'pizza', Reed's recipes got our students engaged and excited about their lunches."

Parents, school administrators, students and food service professionals can access Reed's school meal recipes by visiting the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's website at www.healthiergeneration.org and joining the Alliance's Healthy Schools Program, where members have access to hundreds of resources, including a variety of tools to implement and promote healthier options for students.

The Healthy Schools Program currently supports more than 14,000 schools and more than ten million students nationwide and is available to anyone – at no cost – who is interested in improving health and wellness initiatives on a school campus.

About the Alliance for a Healthier Generation
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation works to address one of the nation's leading public health threats – childhood obesity. The goal of the Alliance is to reduce the nationwide prevalence of childhood obesity by 2015, and to empower kids to make healthy lifestyle choices. Founded in 2005 by the American Heart Association and William J. Clinton Foundation, the Alliance works to positively affect the places that can make a difference to a child's health: homes, schools, doctor's offices and communities. To learn more about the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, visit www.HealthierGeneration.org

About Reed Alexander/Kewlbites.com
Reed Alexander, celebrity food star and breakthrough actor, far surpasses his 17 years, having already laid the ground work for a budding culinary empire. Embracing his passion for cooking from an early age, Reed combines his on-camera talent with his affinity for nutritious and delicious recipes to launch his own online destination, KewlBites.com. In addition to starring as the infamous Nevel Papperman on Nickelodeon's #1 rated comedy iCarly, off-camera, Reed generates and manages all content housed on this virtual hub. Leveraging both his TV and web platforms, Reed captivates a global audience which, like himself, values entertainment and lifestyle. He has shared his culinary expertise on various national shows, including Today Show, Jimmy Kimmel, GMA Health, Delicioso (Univision), Fox & Friends, and more.

SOURCE Alliance for a Healthier Generation

STATESVILLE, N.C., Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Bebida Beverage Company (OTC markets: BBDA) (BeBevCo) a developer, manufacturer and marketer of relaxation and energy drinks announced today their continued support of NASCAR and ARCA Series driver MIKE HARMON at Daytona Speedweeks.

BeBevCo's flagship brand relaxation drink, KOMA UNWIND, will join AMERICAN HERO RACING, the team's major sponsor, in this week's entry of ARCA SERIES race at the famed DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY in the LUCAS OIL SLICK MIST 200 at Daytona Feb. 18, 4:30 Live on The Speed Channel.

KOMA UNWIND will also be a major associate sponsor in next week's NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES event joining once again, AMERICAN HERO RACING, the team's major sponsor in The Drive for COPD 300, Saturday, February 25, 2012 in Daytona LIVE ON ESPN 1:30 PM EST.

"Our brand has been growing like crazy all over the USA and now the world. With my relationships in the racing world, these opportunities to get national TV time and continue to tap into the brand support from race fans everywhere is a huge opportunity," said Brian Weber, CEO of BeBevCo.

"Because of my personal relationships in the racing world, we are able to really maximize our dollars spent," added Weber. We need race fans everywhere to ask the question, 'Where is the KOMA UNWIND relaxation drinks?' from their local retailers.

"I am grateful to Brian and his Company for their continued support of our racing program; I really love their KOMA UNWIND drinks. They help take the anxiety out the night before the races better than anything I have ever had," said Mike Harmon. "It's pretty cool when a friend who himself has NASCAR driver with starts in NATIONWIDE and trucks as well, goes off and becomes a leading beverage manufacturer for an emerging category of relaxation drinks. I have seen his progress and commend him for the successes," added Harmon.

About BeBevCo

BeBevCo (Bebida Beverage Company) develops, manufactures and markets beverages including relaxation drinks Koma Unwind "Chillaxation" Drink(TM), Koma Unwind Sugar-free "Chillaxation" Drink(TM) and Koma Unwind "Chillaxation" Shot(TM) as well as Potencia Energy Drink, Potencia "BLAST" energy shot, Relax 5 shots and Piranha Water.

Safe Harbor Statement

Except for historic information contained in this release, the statements in this news release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause a company's actual results in the future to differ materially from forecasted results. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the company's ability to attract qualified management, raise sufficient capital to execute its business plan, and effectively compete against similar companies.

Contact: (704) 660-0226 extension 5
Investorrelations@bebevco.com
www.BeBevCo.com
www.Relaxfive.com  

SOURCE Bebida Beverage Company

In its first redesign in more than 20 years, Barq's root beer is unveiling a completely new look to pay homage to the brand's Gulf Coast heritage and classically crisp, bold flavor. The new design will be featured on all of Barq's packaging and is currently rolling-out nationwide.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120216/CL54289 )

While the cans will maintain their distinctive silver color, the new look features a diamond pattern reminiscent of the drink's original 1898 12 oz. glass bottle packaging, which is still available in the Gulf Coast area. Additionally, the label helps celebrate the brand's 114-year history by keeping the simple slogan "It's Good. Since 1898." 

"When a beverage as beloved as Barq's undergoes a significant packaging evolution, we have to remain true to the brand's heritage and tradition while ensuring the brand is relevant to today's consumers," said Christina Manganaro, senior marketing activation manager, Coca-Cola North America. "We think the new design presents a cleaner, simpler look that captures the brand's essence in a way that will ultimately resonate with both dedicated Barq's fans and those who are new to the brand."

Barq's traces its heritage back to New Orleans, Louisiana and Biloxi, Mississippi where the beverage was founded and first produced by Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works.  The brand was later purchased by The Coca-Cola Company in 1995.  Since then, the sarsaparilla-based root beer has maintained its trademark bold flavor and caffeine kick reflecting the brand's well-known tagline "Barq's has Bite."

About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, the world's most valuable brand, our Company's portfolio features 15 billion dollar brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.7 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system employees. For more information, please visit www.thecoca-colacompany.com or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo.

SOURCE The Coca-Cola Company

NEW YORK, Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Domaine Select Wine Estates, a Manhattan based wine & spirits import and distribution company announces the appointment of Stephen Kelley as French Portfolio Manager and Southeast Regional Sales Manager. Mr. Kelley will be working closely with founder Paolo Domeneghetti on the management and development of the French estates in DSWE's portfolio. Mr. Kelley will also collaborate with the Vice Presidents of Sales, Brad Groper (Wine) and Jay Harkins (Spirits), to oversee the DSWE distribution network in six states as he assumes the role of Southeast Regional Manager.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120216/NY54550LOGO )

Mr. Kelley's successful career in the industry spans a period of more than 20 years of experience. Before joining DSWE, he was the National Portfolio Manager and Brand Ambassador for Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) with Pasternak Wine Imports. Prior to his role there he was the Director of Sales, NYC, for the Lauber Imports Fine Wine Division of Southern Wines & Spirits, New York.

"From all my work in wine (including running the French team at Lauber in NYC and managing an all-French team at Baron Francois), my goal has always been to work directly with and represent quality French producers. The opportunity with DSWE allows me to do so, while continuing to grow in a dynamic environment."

Immersion in French culture began for Mr. Kelley at age 11, when he accompanied his mother - who was also his French teacher - on a trip to France. Later, he returned to France to live for 2 years while completing his B.A. in French, allowing him the opportunity to become bilingual and gain exposure to some of the most classic French wines. Upon returning to the U.S. in the mid 1980's, Mr. Kelley landed positions first in Foreign language publishing, and later he ran the visa section at the French Consulate in Boston. His entry into the food and wine business began in 1991 at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan.

Mr. Kelley also spent a significant amount of time during his career in the Southeast region of the U.S, while working with the Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) group where he expanded relationships with key on and off premise accounts and engaged in many consumer and trade events throughout Florida.

"We are thrilled by the addition of Stephen to the DSWE team," says Paolo Domeneghetti. "We took great effort in filling this role and we believe that Stephen is truly the perfect match for our portfolio and sales culture at DSWE. We look forward to the positive impact that he will have within our organization."

About Domaine Select Wine Estates

Founded in 1999, Domaine Select Wine Estates (DSWE) is dedicated to wines and specialized spirits from around the world of the highest quality and which demonstrate excellence and tremendous character, particular to their origin. DSWE is committed to transmitting the individuality of their producers; expressing diversity, tradition and personality is the tenet of DSWE. Domaine Select Wine Estates was named 2010 Importer of the Year by FOOD & WINE Magazine.

Contact: Livia Alyson Careaga
212-279-0799 or 917-273-0020 ~ lacareaga@domaineselect.com

SOURCE Domaine Select Wine Estates

The presentation will be broadcast online at http://www.thekrogerco.com/finance/financialinfo_investorconferencecalls.htm.  Click on "Investor Webcasts" to access the event.  An on-demand replay of the webcast will be available from approximately 1 p.m. (ET) Thursday, March 1 through Thursday, March 15, 2012.

Kroger, the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer, employs more than 338,000 associates who serve customers in 2,439 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two dozen local banner names including Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith's. The company also operates 796 convenience stores, 363 fine jewelry stores, 1,067 supermarket fuel centers and 40 food processing plants in the U.S. Kroger was recognized by Forbes as the most generous company in the U.S. The company focuses its charitable efforts on supporting hunger relief, breast cancer awareness, the military and their families, and more than 30,000 schools and grassroots organizations in the communities it serves. Kroger contributes food and funds equal to 125 million meals a year through its partnership with more than 80 Feeding America food banks. For more information about Kroger, please visit www.kroger.com.

SOURCE The Kroger Co.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120216/DA54852)

According to Walter "Smokey" Waters, corporate chef at Taco Cabana, the restaurant's take on Shrimp Tampico features shrimp that are hand-marinated daily in a mix of chipotle and ancho spices right in the restaurant.

"Then we grill the shrimp with garlic, lime and cilantro to get that unique taste that combines the flavors we experienced on our culinary trips to Mexico," said Waters.

Now through mid-April, guests can order Shrimp Tampico in tacos, quesadillas, or enchiladas. Guests can also add Shrimp Tampico to their custom-built Cabana Bowl®.

For a limited time, Taco Cabana is also bringing back its special pineapple salsa. The sweetness of the crushed pineapple combined with the smoky chipotle flavor in the salsa make it a tasty complement to the flavors of the Shrimp Tampico dishes.

"For the past five years, Shrimp Tampico has been something our guests look forward to each spring. This year, we introduced it to the menu earlier so our fans can enjoy it longer," said Todd Coerver, chief marketing officer at Taco Cabana. "It's about incorporating unique ingredients and recipes from Mexico, putting our own spin on them and offering them at a fair price – and starting at $4.99, Shrimp Tampico delivers."

About Taco Cabana®: The Flavors of Mexico
In 1978, Taco Cabana began as a taco stand in San Antonio, with the unique recipes and ingredients that reflect our rich Mexican culture and food. With more than 156 restaurants in 3 states, Taco Cabana continues to redefine the Mexican fast-casual dining experience through ongoing menu and service enhancements. We are committed to providing our guests the true flavors of Mexico, served up in a relaxing, patio cafe environment. From our kitchens' daily fresh-made tortillas and handmade salsas to our flame-grilled fajitas and refreshing margaritas, our commitment to quality lives on, making Taco Cabana one of the region's most enduring and beloved Mexican food brands. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter for offers and updates from Taco Cabana or for more information, please visit www.tacocabana.com.

Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc.
Taco Cabana is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Carrols Restaurant Group, Inc., which is one of the largest restaurant companies in the United States. Carrols operates three restaurant brands in the quick-casual and quick-service restaurant segments with 550 company-owned and operated restaurants in 16 states. Carrols is also the largest Burger King® franchisee, based on number of restaurants.  In the Carrols' family of companies, Fiesta Restaurant Group owns and operates two Hispanic brands, Pollo Tropical® and Taco Cabana®. Carrols announced plans earlier this year to spin-off Fiesta Restaurant Group as a stand-alone company.

SOURCE Taco Cabana