Tag: iab-grocery shopping

An A to Z of the top foods and drinks Australians love most — Vegemite included | CNN

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There are countless things about our homeland that Australians miss after moving abroad: the magnificent landscape, the laid-back lifestyle and that endless blue sky, to name a few.

But something as simple as a trip to the supermarket can leave us expats – according to some reports there are an estimated one million of us – feeling desperately homesick.

With its long history of immigration, Australia is quite literally a melting pot of cuisines.

While some foods are the result of cultural influences such as the Chiko Roll, others are uniquely Aussie, like Golden Gaytime ice cream.

And who could forget the most famous of them all, Vegemite, which turns 100 on October 25.

According to the National Museum of Australia, it was invented by chemist CP Callister in Melbourne in 1923 when Australian food manufacturer Fred Walker asked him to create a product similar to British Marmite.

“During the Second World War, Vegemite captured the Australian market. Marmite was unobtainable and the Australian Army supplied Vegemite to its troops,” says the museum in a post highlighting defining symbols of Australia.

“In the 1950s and 60s, despite acquisition by the American company Kraft, Vegemite became a distinctively ‘Australian’ food. It featured in songs, on souvenirs and other popular culture ephemera. Vegemite returned to Australian ownership in 2017 when purchased by dairy company Bega.”

More on this famed brown spread below as we round up the A-Z of Aussie favorites:

Introduced in 1927, this simple dessert is an Australian classic.

Every Australian child grew up singing the famous 1930s jingle: “I like Aeroplane Jelly, Aeroplane Jelly for me!”

The brand’s “Bertie the Aeroplane” mascot was named after inventor Bert Appleroth – a Sydney tram driver who is said to have made the first batch in his bathtub.

Although now owned by an American company, Aeroplane Jelly has hardly changed since grandma was a girl.

Sure, there are plenty of brands of jelly available worldwide, but when it comes time to make a trifle or treat for the kids, Aussie parents can’t resist this familiar favorite.

An Australian variety of mango that isn’t grown anywhere else in the world, the Bowen is considered the best of the best.

It was first discovered in the northern Queensland town of Bowen, hence the name, but is also known as Kensington Pride.

Bigger and juicer than other varieties, Bowen mangoes account for 80% of mangoes produced in Australia. Some are exported but arguably not enough for the huge number of mango-loving expats.

To Aussies, mangoes are the taste of summer. No matter where we are in the world, the craving for a Bowen mango usually kicks in around Christmas.

This strange little deep-fried snack has been an Australian icon since 1950 when it was first sold by an enterprising boilermaker at football games.

Inspired by Chinese spring rolls, the exact recipe is a little unclear but the combination of meat, veg and some unknown spices hits the spot.

Best consumed with a couple of potato scallops and a soft drink, the Chiko Roll is the go-to for tradies on their lunch break or those 3 a.m. munchies on your way home from the pub.

And the only place to get them is a typical Aussie takeaway joint.

Dukkah – a humble blend of crushed Middle Eastern spices, herbs and nuts from Egypt – has been embraced by Australian foodies.

Its versatility is one of the reasons this condiment is so popular. Dukkah can be used as a garnish, a coating on a piece of meat or mixed with olive oil as a dip for bread.

A number of producers have given the basic dukkah recipe an Australian twist by adding native ingredients, such as lemon myrtle, macadamia nuts, wattleseed, saltbush and pepperleaf.

Expats can find many variations in Australian supermarkets and, fortunately, they’re often sold in packets small enough to sneak into a suitcase.

Australia is one of the few countries where it is considered perfectly acceptable to eat the coat of arms.

Exceptionally lean and gamey, emu and kangaroo tend to be popular among adventurous chefs in Australia.

But when living abroad, neither is easy to get your hands on.

A number of restaurants and specialty butchers offer native meats, but the expense involved in raising emus, in particular, means it’s harder to come by.

Thanks to the influx of Greek and Italian immigrants who brought “proper coffee” to Australia post WWII, we have become a nation of coffee snobs.

The flat white is almost Aussie enough to be called the national drink.

All over the world, café goers and baristas have been confounded as Aussie expats seek out their favorite brew abroad.

With less milk than a latte and without the froth of a cappuccino, the flat white requires special attention (it’s all in the pouring).

One of the first questions asked on expat forums: “Where can I get a decent flat white in this town?”

And it’s usually the first thing ordered at the airport café when back on home soil.

Ice creams feature highly on the most-wanted lists of expats, so it’s only natural we highlight them here.

Milky Paddle Pops and fruity Splice have been popular summer treats since the 1960s.

Likewise, Weis Bars have also been around for more than 60 years, and the mango and cream concoctions invoke memories of lazy summer afternoons.

But the number one, the crème de la crème, is the Golden Gaytime – a vanilla and toffee ice cream coated in chocolate and dipped in crunchy biscuit pieces that has inspired many a replica over the years.

While the burger itself is not an Australian invention, we have added some unconventional ingredients that make the Aussie version truly memorable.

Take the essentials – a beef patty, cheese, tomato, lettuce, grilled onions, tomato sauce (ketchup) – and add beetroot, pineapple, a fried egg and bacon, and you have yourself a massive mouthful.

A quick online search reveals variations that include pickled beetroot and spicy mayo, among others, but the classic Aussie burger celebrates simplicity.

It’s easy enough to replicate at home, but nothing beats the experience of ducking into the local milk-bar (café), or fish and chip shop, to enjoy a burger and a milkshake after a day at the beach.

The Iced VoVo – a biscuit covered in pink fondant, raspberry jam and shredded coconut – is a national treasure.

Produced by Arnott’s since the early 1900s, the iconic treat was mentioned by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in his victory speech after the 2007 election, leading to a spike in sales.

“Friends, tomorrow, the work begins. You can have a strong cup of tea if you want, even an Iced VoVo on the way through. But the celebration stops there,” Rudd said.

Not often found for sale overseas, this sweet treat is one to enjoy with a cup of tea when you’re home visiting mum.

Ask any Australian expat what they miss most about ‘home’ and their list is sure to include at least one type of junk food – the absence of which is felt most keenly at kids’ birthday parties.

Allen’s Lollies (candy) have been around for decades and Minties, Fantales, Jaffas, Snakes and the Classic Party Mix remain as popular as ever.

The Aussie public doesn’t seem to mind that they are all owned by Nestlé, which is headquartered in Switzerland.

Fairy Bread – essentially white bread covered in butter and sprinkles – is another party staple that manages to be devoid of nutrition but highly nostalgic.

On return trips to Australia, expats are known to bulk-buy chocolate bars like Cadbury Cherry Ripes, Caramello Koalas and ever-popular Violet Crumbles.

When it comes to savory junk foods, Smith’s Chips, cheesy Twisties and Nobby’s nuts are synonymous with snacking – and nothing produced overseas comes close.

We tend to lump all Middle Eastern meat-and-pita combos under the heading of “kebab” and be done with it.

Of course, there are subtle differences between doner kebabs, shawarma, souvlaki, and gyros – in both ingredients and quality – depending on the source.

Connoisseurs agree that pork gyros (Greek flatbread filled with rotisserie-roasted meat) found in more legitimate venues around Australia are the best.

Consider the sauce dripping down the front of your shirt an essential part of the experience.

Proving that Aussies love anything with jam and coconut, the lamington is the country’s favorite cake.

Named after Lord Lamington, Queensland’s eighth governor, these delightful squares of sponge cake – dipped in chocolate and coated with coconut – have become nothing short of a culinary icon.

There are entire websites (and an Australian Lamington Appreciation Society) devoted to the origins of the lamington and how to make them. Achieving the right ratio of chocolate, jam and coconut is essential.

There are pies, and then there are Aussie meat pies.

Synonymous with afternoons at the football pitch, brands like Four ‘N Twenty and Vili’s have cornered the market for mass-produced pies.

Small local outfits (like the Bemboka Pie Shop and Harry’s Café de Wheels) are institutions in their own right.

Everyone has a favorite type, whether it’s shepherd’s pie, a floater with peas, cheese and bacon or straight-up meat.

The only requirement? The pie is served piping hot with tomato sauce … and eaten one-handed.

With Four ‘N Twenty now exporting to the United States and parts of Asia, some expats can get their pie fix without venturing too far.

Australia’s love affair with Asian food is no secret, and our northern neighbors strongly influence what we put on our plates.

Even Aussies living in Asia admit to craving “Aussie Chinese” or “Aussie Thai” – dishes that give a nod to the original but are not as authentic as the real thing. In fact, some would say they’re potentially even better.

We’d argue the fresh, high-quality produce and quality meats available in Australia bring out the best in Asian dishes.

It’s fair to say that oysters are an acquired taste, but for those with a penchant for the salty mollusks, Australia produces some of the best in the world.

You’ll find two main species in Aussie waters: rock oysters and Pacific.

As bivalves, oysters filter the water around them and their location dictates their flavor.

The pristine waters along Australia’s coastline provide the perfect conditions for oysters, and they rarely need any accompaniment.

There’s nothing quite like eating these slippery snacks straight off the rocks – export just doesn’t do them justice.

The origins of this meringue-based dessert are hotly contested.

Recent research suggests that the Pav didn’t come from the antipodes at all, but nevertheless it remains a firm favorite.

Meringue, cream and plenty of fruit are the key ingredients, though there are no hard and fast rules about what has to be included.

Expats living in tropical climes often bemoan how challenging it is to get a decent meringue, given humid weather can turn it soft and sticky, so Pavlova is a rare treat.

Q: Quandong and quince

Both the native quandong and the foreign quince lend themselves to some of our favorite condiments and desserts.

Similar to a wild peach, the quandong is incredibly versatile and nutritious and can be made into juice, jam, filling for pies or eaten raw.

The quince is a relative of the apple and pear, and while several varieties are grown commercially in Australia the fruit is best known as the star in Maggie Beer’s quince paste – the only way to eat soft cheese.

Bundaberg Rum, to be more specific. Or just Bundy, as it’s known to locals.

This Australian beverage was created way back in 1888 to deal with an oversupply of molasses in Queensland’s sugarcane region.

Producers believe that it’s the sugar, grown in volcanic soil, that gives Bundy its distinct, rich flavor.

The distillery produces 60,000 bottles a day and the factory was the subject of a National Geographic documentary in 2013.

To say this drop has cult status would be an understatement.

There are so many foods starting with S – smashed avocado, SAO biscuits, sausages – that could represent the land down under.

But Australia’s best produce comes from the sea and expats fondly reminisce about mornings spent at the fish markets picking up the catch of the day before special occasions.

While we’re known to “throw a shrimp on the barbie” there are some creatures that are far more popular.

Barramundi, Balmain or Moreton Bay bugs, abalone, and of course, prawns are just some of the native seafood worth queuing for.

Technically a junk food, Tim Tam biscuits are so famous, so overwhelmingly popular, that they deserve their own spot on this list.

The original Tim Tams are the best: A chocolate-coated sandwich of two malted chocolate biscuits with chocolate cream filling.

Arnott’s, the manufacturers, now export to more than 40 countries around the world, so you can get your fix whether you’re skiing the slopes of Niseko, in Japan, or catching rays on a Tahitian beach.

Uncle Tobys began producing oats way back in 1893. But it wasn’t until the 1970s, when convenience foods started hitting the shelves, that they developed their now famous muesli bars.

The ultimate lunchbox treat or after-school snack, kids had the luxury of choosing not only the flavor, but also the texture.

Many a playground war has been fought over which was best – crunchy or chewy. For the record, we’re firmly in the crunchy camp.

These days the range has grown to include yoghurt and choc-chip toppings. There’s even a lamington flavor.

Tastes like: an Aussie icon turns 100! 🥳

No round-up of Aussie foods would be complete without this ubiquitous salty brown spread, which turns 100 on October 25.

Twenty million jars of Vegemite are sold each year – that’s one for every Australian citizen.

Now owned by Bega Cheese, there was great joy when the icon returned to Australian ownership several years ago.

No one else quite understands the appeal of our favorite toast topping.

For those living in countries where it’s not yet exported, Vegemite comes in massive 560 gram jars and travel-sized tubes.

While there are similar cereals available around the world, there’s nothing quite like “Australia’s favorite breakfast.”

These small biscuits made from wholegrain wheat are occasionally available in supermarkets overseas, but they generally sell out pretty quickly.

Aussie mums have been known to stock up on them on trips to the motherland.

Best eaten with a little bit of sugar, some chopped banana and a lot of milk, Weet-Bix is promoted as family-friendly health food. But we’d love them even if they weren’t good for us.

Another product of sunny Queensland, XXXX (pronounced four-ex) originated in Victoria in 1878 before moving north, where it is still produced today.

XXXX has endeared itself to Aussies as a great brew and a big supporter of sports and small communities.

It’s not widely available outside of Australia, but if you’re an expat in China or Dubai, you may be able to find it in a bar near you.

Small freshwater crustaceans, yabbies are similar to lobsters – both prized as delicacies.

They’re hardy little creatures, and if you grew up on a farm chances are you spent your summers fishing for yabbies in the local creek.

Yabbies have a lot of meat on them, mostly in the tail and claws, and it tastes sweet and succulent when cooked right.

Expats might find these clawed crustaceans in restaurants, but you’re unlikely to find them in your local supermarket.

The zucchini fritter is yet another delicious byproduct of immigration.

Depending on who you ask, they’re either Turkish and served with yogurt, or Greek, in which case they come with tzatziki.

Either way, olive oil should ooze out when you take a bite.

In some parts of Australia, you can find zucchini fritters at a local takeaway, next to the potato scallops and Chiko Rolls.

These fried pancakes may have more health benefits than your average fried snack, but they are no less delicious.

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October 24, 2023
2 cheerleaders were shot in a Texas supermarket parking lot after one opened the door to the wrong vehicle. A suspect is under arrest | CNN

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Two teenage cheerleaders were shot after one said she mistook the suspect’s vehicle for her own in a supermarket parking lot near Texas’ capital – making this at least the third incident this week in which young people who’d made an apparent mistake were met with gunfire.

Authorities arrested Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., 25, the man they say shot the two teens. He was taken into custody early Tuesday, the Elgin Police Department said in a news release later that morning.

According to a probable cause document, Tello is accused of deadly conduct with a firearm, a third-degree felony. He is being held on a $500,000 bond. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney.

Officers responding just after midnight Tuesday to an H-E-B supermarket parking lot found two people in a vehicle who’d been struck by bullets, police said, citing preliminary reports. One with serious injuries was rushed by helicopter to a hospital and was in critical condition, while the other was treated at the scene, the release said.

The latter girl had gotten out of a friend’s car and opened the door to a vehicle she thought was hers, only to find a man sitting in the passenger seat, she said during a livestreamed prayer vigil Tuesday night at her cheer team’s gym, CNN affiliate KTRK reported.

Heather Roth said she was trying to apologize to the man when he got out of the passenger door.

“He just threw his hands up, and then he pulled out a gun and he just started shooting at all of us,” Roth said, fighting tears.

Lynne Shearer, managing partner of the Woodlands Elite Cheer Company, told CNN the Roth and fellow cheerleader Payton Washington fled immediately in their car.

“As soon as they saw the gun, they said go and they drove and they went about two miles down the road,” Shearer told CNN. “And that’s when they realized that Payton was seriously hurt and they pulled over once they realized that guy wasn’t following them because Payton was … throwing up blood at that point. So they, that’s when they called 911.”

Washington was shot twice and badly injured, according to a GoFundMe spearheaded by her cheerleading team, the Woodlands Elite Generals. Washington is stable and recovering in the ICU, according to the team.

Roth was struck by a bullet but was treated and released at the scene, Shearer said.

Washington is “doing well today” after suffering from a ruptured spleen, which was removed, and she has damage to her pancreas and diaphragm, Shearer said Wednesday.

“Her stomach is not closed up yet and they are keeping her on heavy antibiotics for at least 48 hours to hopefully fight off infection,” she said. “Once they are sure there is no infection, they will go back in and finish up any issues and close her up.”

In another interview with CNN, Shearer said Washington should make a full recovery and has been FaceTiming with her friends.

Roth and Washington are from the Austin and Round Rock area and were commuting in a carpool to a cheerleading gym in Oak Ridge North, a Houston suburb, three times a week.

The commute is about 300 miles round trip – a commute Washington has been doing for eight years, Shearer said.

Roth is in college, while the other three girls in the vehicle, including Washington, are in high school.

Washington, a senior who had committed to Baylor University’s Acrobatics and Tumbling team, was born with only one lung and “has surpassed many obstacles to rise to the very top of her sport,” Shearer said.

“Payton is a strong young lady; if you know her, you know that about her,” Baylor head acrobatics and tumbling coach Felecia Mulkey told CNN. “I have no doubt she’s going to get through this.”

After visiting Roth on Tuesday, Mulkey said all things considered, she looked great and is making good progress – but acknowledged there’s still a long way to go on her path to recovery.

Mulkey described Roth as an “amazing athlete but a better human.”

“I know mental wounds also leave scars,” she said. “We want to lift up the athletes and their families during this difficult time. We love Payton and we wish her well as she recovers.”

Shearer said her team is busy still trying to prepare for the World Championships this weekend in Orlando, which Roth still plans to compete in.

Tuesday’s shooting was yet another case this week in which young people were shot after apparently going to the wrong place, including a 16-year-old struck in the head after ringing the wrong doorbell in Kansas City and a 20-year-old killed by the owner of a home whose driveway she’d inadvertently turned into.

The United States is the only nation with more civilian guns than people, with about 120 guns for every 100 Americans, according to the Small Arms Survey. Elgin is a city of some 10,000 people about a half-hour drive east of Austin.

A supermarket manager witnessed the incident, and police have surveillance footage from the parking lot that shows the license plate on the suspect’s car, police said, according to the probable cause affidavit.

“Elgin Detectives contacted Pedro Tello at the residence. Pedro Tello was still wearing the clothing that was observed by Elgin Detectives in the surveillance footage,” the affidavit states.

Four Woodland Elite Cheer athletes were “involved in a horrific incident” on their way home from practice Monday night, the cheerleading and tumbling company said in a Facebook post.

“We are asking for your prayers,” it said.

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April 19, 2023
What Walmart’s pullback from Chicago says about Corporate America’s limits | CNN Business

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A line of Chicago mayors heavily courted Walmart over the last two decades, brushing aside community protests. And Walmart welcomed the opportunity to show cities it could be a strong corporate partner.

But now, Walmart is pulling back from Chicago.

The largest retailer in the country announced plans this week to close four of its eight stores in the city, citing growing financial losses. Three are in predominantly Black and low-income neighborhoods, and their closures with little warning mean residents — including elderly citizens and people without reliable transportation — will have to travel further to buy groceries and pick up their medications.

“These stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, and their annual losses nearly doubled in just the last five years,” Walmart said. Despite years of different strategies, the company said, it did not see a route to profitability for these stores. Walmart, which made $20.6 billion in 2022, did not specify why losses were growing in Chicago.

City leaders “used a lot of political capital and their trust were questioned, Now it’s kind of like, ‘I told you so,’” said Chicago Alderman-Elect Ronnie Mosley, who will represent a Chicago ward where one of the Walmarts is set to close. His predecessor, who is retiring, was a major proponent of drawing Walmart to Chicago.

Mayors and key political leaders had pushed to draw Walmart, despite protests from small businesses, labor groups and community activists. Critics pointed to studies that suggested a Walmart presence could push out mom-and-pop stores and drive down wages, as it had in smaller towns.

But, at the time, officials argued opening Walmarts would provide jobs, economic development and convenient places to shop for affordable groceries and pharmacy services in some of the city’s low-income communities.

Meanwhile Walmart, which rose mainly in rural and suburban areas, also fought hard to enter Chicago. Walmart saw it as a twofold opportunity: broaden its customer base while proving to skeptical officials in other cities that it was a strong corporate partner.

The closures are another example of the shortcomings of local governments and even national political leaders betting on leading chains to provide key public services and fill gaps.

If government couldn’t provide for a populace in desperate need of jobs and fresh foods, the thinking went, for-profit corporations would.

But in Chicago, that’s not what happened. A 2012 study of Walmart’s impact in Chicago found businesses closer to Walmart were significantly more likely to close than similar businesses farther away — and the number of jobs lost by nearby retail competitors essentially offset the number of jobs created at the new Walmart stores.

This is a particular issue in predominantly minority, low-income areas that experience economic neglect, and other chains have recently shuttered stores in these areas as well.

Whole Foods closed in Chicago earlier this year, along with CVS, Aldi and Save A Lot. In 2019, Target closed two stores, angering residents. Chains like Dollar General and Family Dollar are expanding in low-income areas, but they don’t sell fresh groceries.

Unlike local government, which is theoretically accountable to voters, companies answer only to their shareholders and don’t have an obligation to stay in communities if they aren’t making a profit.

Whether it’s handing over responsibility for providing public bathrooms to Starbucks and McDonald’s or vaccines and basic health services to CVS and Walgreens, the public is left vulnerable when these companies’ business priorities change or they close locations.

“We have asked business to solve problems that we don’t want government to solve anymore,” said Bryant Simon, a professor of history at Temple University who studies the role of Corporate America and government. “We’re happy to have them do it and then shocked when they act like a business again.”

A similar strategy to rely on national chains to help remedy so-called “food deserts” was a focus on the national level during the Obama administration. It too fell short.

Walmart, Walgreens

(WBA), SuperValu and other store executives joined Michelle Obama at the White House in 2011 to announce a pledge to open a combined 1,500 stores in communities that have limited access to nutritious food by 2016.

But that effort stalled. The Associated Press found in 2015 that leading chains built just 250 new supermarkets in these areas.

“The assumption there is a single player in the nation that will work in every market is proving to not be true,” said Liz Abunaw, who founded Forty Acres Fresh Market, a startup grocer, in response to the lack of fresh food options on Chicago’s West Side. “Even in Chicago, the solutions differ by neighborhood.”

Placing a big chain in the middle of a struggling neighborhood is not an effective strategy alone, she said, and more holistic solutions are needed, including improving housing, jobs and public transportation: “It’s not one thing. All of those things go together.”

There also can be unintended consequences to chains opening in neighborhoods. Companies sometimes open, small retailers close – and then the chain closes, leaving a bigger void in some cases than when it first came in.

“The idea that Walmart did the city a great favor by moving in is highly debatable,” said David Merriman, a professor of public policy, management and analytics at the University of Illinois Chicago and co-author of the study of Walmart’s presence in Chicago.

Instead of relying on large companies to strengthen local economies, some experts say, another solution could be designing policies that better support smaller, family-owned supermarkets, co-operatives, and farmers’ markets such as Yellow Banana and ChiFresh Kitchen in Chicago.

“Their loss is one of the main reasons that communities lack grocery stores and other basic retail in the first place,” Abunaw said.

Despite stiff resistance from unions, grassroots groups and some local leaders in Chicago, Walmart has been embraced by the city’s last three mayors as an economic development model.

In 2006, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley issued a rare veto to override a City Council bill that required big-box stores such as Walmart to pay workers a $10 minimum wage. In 2013, Mayor Rahm Emanuel cut the ribbon on a new Walmart in an underserved neighborhood, saying it was “another example of a company seeing an alignment of what is good for their bottom line with what is good for our neighborhoods.”

In 2020, Mayor Lori Lightfoot held a press conference with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon to announce the company would expand its investment in the city following local and national protests over George Floyd’s murder by police.

But the company struggled in Chicago. Its mammoth superstores, which are designed for people to drive to and make big shopping trips, have been less suited for city residents who tend to make smaller but more frequent trips to supermarkets.

Walmart tried opening smaller stores, known as neighborhood markets, that serve mostly groceries — but these lower profit margins than other merchandise like electronics or clothing. Walmart is closing neighborhood markets around the country, and three of the four stores closing in Chicago fall into that category.

In Chicago, Walmart is closing in both low-income and high-income areas, a sign that it’s struggling across the city. But it’s the stores in low-income areas that will feel the loss most.

“We are in an area where CVS and Walgreens have closed,” Alderman-Elect Mosley said. “Walmart has become the de-facto” store and the closure is “traumatizing.”

“Walmart is leaving and they may be doing what’s best for them,” he said. “Now I have to figure out with our community what’s best for us.”

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April 15, 2023
Whole Foods closes San Francisco flagship store after one year, citing crime | CNN Business

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An enormous Whole Foods in downtown San Francisco that opened just last year is temporarily closing. The company said rampant crime in the area forced it to shut down.

The nearly 65,000-square foot location at Trinity Place in the city’s Mid-Market neighborhood shut its doors Monday to “ensure the safety” of its employees, a Whole Foods spokesperson said. Although Whole Foods did not share any additional information on the conditions that led to the store closing, the spokesperson added that it was a “difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being.” Affected employees will be transferred to nearby stores.

The store at 8th and Market streets will not open Tuesday, the spokesperson said. The store’s website has also disappeared.

Heralded as a “flagship store” following its March 2022 opening, the Whole Foods was one of the largest supermarkets in downtown San Francisco. The store sold 3,700 local products and was designed with “nods to classic San Francisco,” according to a news release.

The San Francisco Standard, an independent news website, reported that this Whole Foods location had previously reduced operating hours last year because of theft and changed its bathrooms after employees found syringes and pipes.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Matt Dorsey said on Twitter that he was “incredibly disappointed” by the closure.

“Our neighborhood waited a long time for this supermarket, but we’re also well aware of problems they’ve experienced with drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them,” Dorsey wrote.

Property crimes in San Francisco have garnered national attention because of several attention-grabbing videos of thieves in action. Though still well below 2017 levels, the city saw a 23% increase in property crimes between 2020 and 2022, with spikes in burglary and theft headlining the surge, according to San Francisco Police Department data.

Meanwhile, violent crime statistics in San Francisco have remained relatively steady in recent years. Preliminary police data reports 12 homicides in San Francisco this year, an uptick of 20% compared to the same period in the previous year. In total, there were 56 homicides in San Francisco in 2022, which is the same number of homicides the city saw in 2021.

In recent months, national retailers have been complaining about thefts affecting locations. Chains took action by locking up everyday products such as deodorant and toothpaste and added extra security guards. However, a Walgreens executive recently admitted that the impact of the thefts may have been overblown.

A San Francisco Cotopaxi store temporarily closed in October 2022, citing theft and employee safety, reopening in mid-November.

Cotopaxi CEO Davis Smith, in a LinkedIn post, said at the time that the “large-scale theft and raiding” put the store’s employees at risk. But he also said he regretted that the store’s closure became the subject of a political debate about crime in San Francisco and other cities.

“We had many jumping to our support, some who felt offended by my post, and a few who politicized our store’s closure (because these are the times we live in, unfortunately),” Smith wrote. “To be clear, I never anticipated that our decision to close our Hayes Valley store would become entangled in political discourse.”

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April 11, 2023
The US dollar is at a crossroads | CNN Business

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A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.

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CNN
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Wall Street investors are reaching for their neck braces in preparation for yet another volatile swing in stock markets: A surging US dollar.

The greenback — which is not just the dominant global currency but also “the key variable affecting global economic conditions,” according to the New York Federal Reserve — reached a 20-year high last year after the Fed turned hawkish with its aggressive rate hikes.

Since then, inflation seemed to have softened, pushing the dollar down. But in recent weeks, as a slew of economic data has shown the Fed’s inflation battle is far from over, the currency soared by about 4% from its recent lows, and now sits near a seven-week high.

Investors are stressing about this sudden rebound, since a stronger dollar means American-made products become more expensive for foreign buyers, overseas revenue decreases in value and global trade weakens.

Multinational companies, naturally, aren’t thrilled about any of this. And around 30% of all S&P 500 companies’ revenue is earned in markets outside the US, said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.

What’s happening: The US dollar “finds itself at a significant crossroads yet again,” said Krosby. “While the Fed remains steadfastly data dependent, the dollar’s course as well remains focused on inflation and the Fed’s monetary response.”

“The strong US dollar has been a headwind for international earnings and stock performance (for US investors),” wrote Wells Fargo analysts in a recent note.

February was a rough month for markets: The Dow ended February down 4.19%, the S&P 500 fell 2.6% and the Nasdaq lost just over 1%.

What’s next: Investors are clearly focused on the next Fed policy meeting, which is still three weeks away, for signals about the direction of rates. But until then, investors may gain some insight Tuesday when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks before the Senate Banking Committee.

They’ll also be watching next Friday’s jobs report for any softening in the labor market that could temper the Fed’s hawkish mood.

Don’t forget the debt ceiling: Another significant threat to the dollar is looming in Congress — the ongoing debt ceiling fight. The United States could start to default on its financial obligations over the summer or in the early fall if lawmakers don’t agree to raise the debt limit — its self-imposed borrowing limit — before then, according to a new analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

That could potentially lead to a disastrous downgrade to America’s credit rating and could send the dollar spiraling as investors start to sell off their US assets and move their money to safer currencies.

“It would certainly undermine the role of the dollar as a reserve currency that is used in transactions all over the world. And Americans — many people — would lose their jobs and certainly their borrowing costs would rise,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN in January.

▸ A lot has changed in the last twenty years. The gender pay gap hasn’t.

In 2022, US women on average earned about 82 cents for every dollar a man earned, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers.

That’s a big leap from the 65 cents that women were earning in 1982. But it has barely moved from the 80 cents they were earning in 2002.

“Higher education, a shift to higher-paying occupations and more labor market experience have helped women narrow the gender pay gap since 1982,” the Pew analysis noted. “But even as women have continued to outpace men in educational attainment, the pay gap has been stuck in a holding pattern since 2002, ranging from 80 to 85 cents to the dollar.”

▸ Initial jobless claims, which measures the number of people who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week, are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.

This will be the last official jobs data investors see before February’s heavily anticipated unemployment report next Friday.

Economists are expecting 195,000 Americans to have filed for unemployment, which is higher than the seasonally adjusted 192,000 who applied two weeks ago.

Initial claims have come in lower than expected in recent weeks and remain well below their pre-pandemic levels.

The white-hot labor market in the US added more than 500,000 jobs in January, blowing analysts’ expectations out of the water and bringing the unemployment rate to its lowest level since May of 1969.

That’s bad news for the Federal Reserve where policymakers have been attempting to tame inflation by cooling the economy through painful interest rate hikes.

▸ It’s a big day for groceries. Kroger (KR), Costco (COST) and Anheuser-Busch (BUD) all report earnings on Thursday.

Investors will be watching closely for clues about consumer sentiment during an uncertain retail earnings season. On Tuesday, Kohl’s reported that it had a rough holiday season and executives at the company put the blame on inflation. The company said higher prices squeezed sales and forced it to mark down some products to entice shoppers — which hurt its profit margin.

Those comments echoed those of other big box retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT), who have said consumers are feeling the pinch of inflation.

Still, Target and Walmart’s bottom lines were bolstered by food sales even as consumers pulled back on discretionary purchases.

The US Senate voted on Wednesday to overturn a Biden administration retirement investment rule that allows managers of retirement funds to consider the impact of climate change and other ESG factors when picking investments.

As my CNN colleagues Ali Zaslav, Clare Foran and Ted Barrett write: The rule is not mandated – it allows, but does not require, the consideration of environmental, social and governance factors in investment selection.

Republicans complained that the rule is a “woke” policy that pushes a liberal agenda on Americans and will hurt retirees’ bottom lines.

“This rule isn’t about saying the left or the right take on a given environmental, social, or governance issue is ‘correct,’” countered Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) on the Senate floor Wednesday. “It’s about acknowledging these factors are reasonable for asset managers to consider.”

The measure will next go to President Joe Biden’s desk as it was passed by the House on Tuesday. The administration, however, has issued a veto threat. As a result, passage of the resolution could pave the way for Biden to issue the first veto of his presidency.

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March 2, 2023
Why UK supermarkets are rationing fruit and vegetables | CNN Business

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London
CNN
—

Major UK supermarkets have started rationing the sale of some staple fruits and salad vegetables, blaming poor weather that has depressed production in Spain and north Africa.

Tesco

(TSCDF), the UK’s biggest supermarket, confirmed to CNN Wednesday that it had temporarily capped the number of packs of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers to three per customer.

Asda told CNN that it was temporarily limiting purchases of some items to three packs per customer. These include tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce.

“Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa,” an Asda spokesperson said.

Morrisons told CNN that it had imposed a cap of two packs per customer on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuce. Aldi, a German discount grocery chain, announced Wednesday that it would also introduce a limit of three packs per person on peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes in its UK stores.

Asda, Morrisons and Aldi are Britain’s third-, fourth- and fifth-biggest supermarket chains respectively, according to market share data from Kantar.

Sainsbury’s

(JSAIY), the United Kingdom’s second-largest food retailer, told CNN it had no plans to ration the sale of fruit and vegetables.

The rationing is another knock for British shoppers already grappling with record grocery price rises, which have inflamed the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

In the four weeks to January 22, food price inflation hit 16.7%, according to Kantar. That’s its highest level since the data company started tracking the indicator in 2008.

“The more we face shortages, the more it will drive food inflation,” Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), which represents more than 46,000 farming and growing businesses, told the BBC Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a statement: “We understand public concerns around the supply of fresh vegetables. However, the UK has a highly resilient food supply chain and is well-equipped to deal with disruption.”

So what explains the empty shelves?

Asda and Morrisons pointed the finger at poor weather in key growing regions as the main driver of the shortages.

Andrew Woods, a sub-editor at Mintec, a commodities data company, told CNN that hotter-than-average weather in Spain and Morocco last fall, combined with a cold snap over the past two weeks, had hit production.

The tomato crop in southern Spain is 20% smaller than a year ago, he said.

The poorer harvests are problematic for UK retailers, reliant as they are on imports to fill their stocks at this time of year.

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), a trade group, UK supermarkets import 95% of their tomatoes and 90% of their lettuce in December, and typically import the same proportions in March.

James Bailey, executive director of supermarket Waitrose, told LBC radio Monday that snow and hail in Spain, as well as hail in parts of north Africa, had “wip[ed] out a large proportion” of key crops.

The high-end supermarket chain told CNN that it was “monitoring the situation” but had no plans to introduce rationing.

“Give it about [two weeks] and the other growing seasons in other parts of the world will have caught up and we should be able to get that supply back in,” Bailey added.

The BRC also says it expects the current disruption to last a few weeks before home-grown produce arrives to fill the gaps on UK store shelves.

“Supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers are able to access a wide range of fresh produce,” Andrew Opie, the BRC’s director of food and sustainability, told CNN.

High input costs have contributed to the shortages of fruit and vegetables, the NFU says, as well as reduced production across the farming sector more broadly.

“Labor shortages and soaring energy prices are hitting the poultry industry, already reeling from avian influenza, as well as horticultural businesses and pig farms,” Batters said in a speech Tuesday.

The price of natural gas — a key input for nitrogen-based fertilizers — shot up following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Though gas prices have fallen back in recent weeks, they are still triple their historical average, while fertilizer costs are up 169% since 2019, Batters noted.

According to the NFU, the production of tomatoes and cucumbers is expected to fall to the lowest levels since the union started keeping records in 1985, on the back of crippling input costs.

Woods at Mintec said processing and storing vegetables, such as tomatoes, was “energy intensive.”

Europe, too, has wrestled with many of the same problems in recent months.

“Across Europe, supplies [of tomatoes] are reportedly tight, and growers continue to grapple with higher fertilizer, energy and labor costs,” Mintec said in a note.

Yet, currently, there are few indications — in media reports or on social media — that retailers in other countries are rationing sales.

But Defra said in its statement Wednesday that “similar disruption is also being seen in other countries,” and that it was helping UK growers by expanding a visa scheme for seasonal workers to fill labor gaps.

UK supermarkets have not cited Brexit as a reason for the supply crunch. But the NFU and some campaign groups argue that it has worsened labor shortages.

Direct subsidy payments to UK farmers from the European Union are being phased out, which has increased uncertainty for farmers, Batters said in her speech. The United Kingdom plans to fully implement its own subsidy scheme by 2024.

— Julia Horowitz contributed reporting.

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February 22, 2023
Trader Joe’s asked customers to rank their nine top products. Here they are | CNN Business

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New York
CNN
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Trader Joe’s asked its customers a simple question: If you were to spend the rest of your life on a deserted island, which nine Trader Joe’s products would you take with you?

More than 18,000 customers responded to its 14th annual survey ranking the grocery store’s most popular items in nine different categories.

There were some caveats this year: Gone from the running were five products that have won many times in the past (think Mandarin Orange Chicken and dark chocolate peanut butter cups), and instead are featured in its Product Hall of Fame.

The first Trader Joe’s opened in Pasadena, California, in 1967. Its founder Joe Coulombe (yes, Joe was a real guy), was a convenience store owner who wanted to open a grocery chain to appeal to a niche market of well-educated, well-traveled consumers. The idea led him to create a cult-favorite grocery empire.

Here are the products customers voted their favorites, in categories from cheese to entrees.

Chili & Lime Flavored Rolled Tortilla Chips, spicy corn chips, swept the competition this year, taking home the top prize. Runners-up included the hash browns, chicken soup dumplings, Everything but the Bagel sesame seasoning blend, and chocolate croissants.

See the all-time favorites included in Trader Joe’s Hall of Fame

The chips also won in the poll’s favorite snack category. Customers were also fans of the Organic Elote Corn Chip Dippers, Organic Corn Chip Dippers, World’s Puffiest White Cheddar Corn Puffs and Crunchy Curls, which were all among the top vote-getters.

The Sparkling Honeycrisp Apple Juice was the fans’ favorite beverage, though it is seasonal. The canned drink is a simple three-ingredient blend of apple juice, water and bubbles.

Following is the Triple Ginger Brew, Sparkling Peach Black Tea with peach juice, Sparkling Cranberry & Ginger Beverage and the Non-Dairy Brown Sugar Oat Creamer.

Now that Hall of Famer Unexpected Cheddar is no longer an option in the poll, the store’s cheddar cheese with caramelized onions took home top accolades.

See the full list of customer choice award winners

Runners-up included Syrah Soaked Toscano, seasonal Baked Lemon Ricotta, Blueberry & Vanilla Chèvre and its various bries.

Replacing the longtime Mandarin Orange Chicken is Trader Joe’s Butter Chicken – spiced chicken in a tomato and cream sauce with basmati rice.

Indian is popular with Trader Joe’s customers. Second runner-up was Chicken Tikka Masala, followed by Kung Pao Chicken, Butternut Squash Mac & Cheese and BBQ Teriyaki Chicken.

Seasonal candles won out in this category. Its seasonal scents include Peony Blossom, Cedar Balsam, Honeycrisp Apple and Vanilla Pumpkin.

Runners-up: Daily Facial Sunscreen, Ultra-Moisturizing Hand Cream, Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo & Conditioner, and Shea Butter & Coconut Oil Hair Mask.

Unsurprisingly, customers voted bananas as their top choice. The chain is known for its 25-cent organic bananas and 19-cent regular bananas. Following choices were Teeny Tiny Avocados, Honeycrisp Apples, Brussels Sprouts and Organic Carrots of Many Colors.

The tiny and crunchy Hold the Cone! Mini Ice Cream Cones won top dessert, followed by Danish Kringle, Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches, Chocolate Lava Cakes and Brookie.

Among its many vegan and vegetarian options, the Vegan Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto came out on top. Vegetable Fried Rice, Beefless Bulgogi, Palak Paneer, Cauliflower Gnocchi followed.

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January 29, 2023
Running an errand on New Year’s Day? Here is what’s open and closed | CNN Business
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New York
CNN
—

Many of us will close out 2022 with celebrations that stretch well into the wee hours of New Year’s Day.

But when Jan. 1, 2023 gets underway, we’ll just as likely return to familiar routines and habits – caffeine? – and even add in some new resolutions, like a morning walk or healthier eating.

If that’s the case, there are several grocery chains, drug stores and restaurant chains nationwide open for business on Jan 1, 2023.

But check hours of operation at your local store. Several will have modified hours and are either opening later or closing earlier on New Year’s Day.

Also, with January 1, 2023 falling on a Sunday, for most federal employees, Monday, January 2, will be treated as a paid holiday. This means post offices, government offices and banks will be closed on Monday.

Grocery stores:

Whole Foods

Safeway

Albertsons

Wegmans

Kroger

Stop & Shop

Drug stores:

CVS (pharmacy hours will vary based on location)

Walgreens (pharmacies closed on Jan.1)

Rite Aid

Discounters:

Walmart

Target

BJ’s

Dollar General

Five Below (check for modified store hours)

Department stores:

Nordstrom

JC Penney

Kohl’s

Macy’s

Marshalls

TJ Maxx (check for modified store hours)

Home improvement and home goods stores:

Lowe’s

Bed, Bath & Beyond

IKEA
USPS: Local post offices will be open on New Year’s Eve. Post offices will be closed on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. Mail will not be picked up and will not be delivered.

FedEx: Ground and Express services are closed on Jan. 1. On Jan. 2, ground service is open but express service is closed.

Government offices are closed on Jan. 2.

Banks: Most banks typically follow the federal holiday calendar. This means teller services will be closed.

New York Stock Exchange closed on Jan. 2
Stores
Costco closed on Jan 1

Trader Joe’s closed on Jan 1

Aldi closed on Jan 1

Sam’s Club closed on Jan 1
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December 31, 2022
Why eggs have been so expensive this year | CNN Business

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New York
CNN Business
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Several grocery items have gotten more expensive this year. But nothing comes close to the rise in egg prices.

In the year through November, not adjusted for seasonal swings, egg prices jumped 49%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Since early this year, a deadly avian flu has been reducing poultry flocks — specifically turkeys and egg-laying hens. That’s one reason for the unrelenting increase in prices. But the situation has been exacerbated by elevated feed and energy costs for producers, in addition to high demand in the supermarket.

Experts think that the peak has passed, but until these conditions improve, expect to pay more for eggs in the grocery store.

Avian flu has been a problem in the US for several months now, but in recent weeks wholesale prices have been hitting records.

As of last week, “prices have been escalating for nine consecutive weeks… setting new record highs on a daily basis since the week of Thanksgiving,” said Karyn Rispoli, editor of the Egg Price Current for Urner Barry, which offers food market data.

On Friday, Midwest large eggs, the benchmark for eggs sold in their shells, hit $5.46 per dozen, Rispoli said, citing Urner Barry’s data. This time last year, Urner Berry’s data shows, that price was around $1.70.

One reason for the increase? Not enough supply.

“There’s simply not been enough production to support the incredibly strong retail demand we’ve seen this year,” Rispoli said. Supply has been constrained by the deadly bird flu.

The current outbreak of Highly-Pathogenic Avian Influenza started in the US around February, and has persisted throughout the year. The last major bird flu outbreak in the United States was in 2015. But that one was contained by June of that year, noted Brian Earnest, lead economist for animal protein in CoBank.

“This year, we’ve continued to see flock depopulations throughout the entire year, and there’s an expectation that we’ll continue to see it into 2023,” he said, noting that he expects “we’re going to see a tight supply situation and elevated pricing environment moving forward.”

About 60 million birds are gone because of the disease so far, according to the USDA. Of those, about 43 million are egg-laying hens, according to USDA data provided by the American Egg Board, a farmer-funded group which markets eggs.

Still, farmers have been able to moderate the losses. “Our producers learned a lot of hard lessons from 2015,” said Emily Metz, CEO of the American Egg Board. Some farmers have been able to repopulate their flocks, decreasing the net impact on flock sizes and egg supplies. As of early December, there were about 308 million hens laying eggs for consumption, down from about 328 million in December 2021, according to the USDA.

The supply squeeze isn’t the only thing contributing to higher egg prices, said Metz. Higher fuel, feed and other producer cost are also driving up wholesale prices, she said. And then there’s that high demand for eggs, which spikes this time of year.

People buy more eggs around the holidays, when they’re baking and cooking more, and eating breakfast at home more often.

Wholesale prices tend to go up in the winter because of those habits, noted Earnest. That has “brought about a very strong market condition.”

Year-round demand for eggs has also also been strong.

Even while prices have soared, sales of eggs have only ticked down about 2% by unit in retail in the year through December 4th, according to data from IRI, a market research firm.

Shoppers have been accepting high prices at the grocery store as they pull back on restaurant visits. And even though eggs have gotten more expensive, they still cost less than other proteins.

As that peak holiday demand passes, wholesale prices are expected to fall.

“Based on current trade values and market conditions, it appears that the market may have finally reached its peak,” said Rispoli. Friday’s wholesale prices were the same as Thursday’s, the first time pricing held steady since October, she said.

“Several suppliers have reported to us… that they are seeing their orders slow,” in the week leading up to Christmas, she added. By then, “most grocers have pulled in whatever inventory they’ll need for the holidays.”

It might take another three to six months for prices to moderate in retail, said KK Davey, president of thought leadership at IRI and NPD, and even longer for prices to come down to what they were last year.

“It may take some more time,” he said.

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December 27, 2022
Buffalo grocery store mass shooter willing to plead guilty to federal charges if death penalty off the table, attorneys say | CNN

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CNN
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The gunman who killed 10 people and wounded three in a racist attack at a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, would be willing to plead guilty to federal charges – including hate crimes – if prosecutors agree to take the death penalty off the table, his attorneys said Friday.

Attorneys representing Payton Gendron made their statements during a court hearing on Friday, seven months after Gendron used an illegally modified semiautomatic rifle to carry out the mass shooting.

Gendron, a 19-year-old White man, had faced multiple federal hate crime charges, which carry the potential for the death penalty, in addition to several firearms charges. He had pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

He pleaded guilty in a state court last month to one count of a domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and a weapons possession charge in the mass shooting at Tops Friendly Markets on May 14. Those charges come with a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the chance of parole.

“Just as Payton Gendron entered a plea of guilty to the indictment in county court, he is prepared to enter a plea of guilty in federal court in exchange of the same sentence, which is the sentence of life in prison, without parole,” said his defense attorney Sonya Zoghlin.

Magistrate Judge Kenneth Schroeder in court on Friday balked at giving attorneys more time to review the voluminous evidence connected with the case since Gendron has already pleaded guilty to state charges.

Gendron’s defense team said in court they plan to take the first steps to meet with the US Attorney in Buffalo and the Assistant Attorney General from Washington so that they can make a formal presentation to as to why Gendron should not get the death penalty.

The first meetings are scheduled after the new year, attorneys said in court on Friday.

“There’s a lot to go through and I think that mitigation presentation, obviously, is highly important for them, in addition to the facts of the case, so that’s why we consented this time,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi.

Judge Schroeder scheduled the next hearing for March 10, during which attorneys will give an update on how much of the evidence they’ve been able to review and if they can work out a deal with prosecutors.

Meanwhile, Gendron will be sentenced on his state conviction on similar charges in February.

The victims, including customers, employees and an armed security guard, ranged in age from 20 to 86. Eleven of the 13 people shot were Black and two were White, officials said.

Social media posts and a lengthy document written by the gunman reveal he had been planning his attack for months and had visited the Tops supermarket several times previously. He posted that he chose Tops because it was in a particular ZIP code in Buffalo that had the highest percentage of Black people close enough to where he lived in Conklin, New York.

The document outlined his goals for the attack, according to Flynn: “To kill as many African Americans as possible, avoid dying and spread ideals.”

Gendron shot four people outside the grocery store and nine more inside before surrendering to Buffalo Police officers who responded to the scene, according to an indictment.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said following the attack that the AR-15 style rifle used in the shooting was legally purchased in New York State, but was modified with a high-capacity magazine, which is not legal in the state.

The earlier guilty plea ensured there will be no state trial and Gendron will not appeal, defense attorney Brian Parker said.

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December 9, 2022