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☆ Butterball is making the worst part of cooking a Thanksgiving turkey much easier
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-18 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Cooking a Thanksgiving turkey presents a host of unique challenges, including making sure it’s not dry, and making sure it’s delicious. But thawing out a multi-pound frozen bird is the first big one. Butterball has a solution with a new frozen turkey that the company says eliminates the hours-long thawing process. This week, the country’s largest turkey producer unveiled a new “Cook from Frozen” turkey that only has two steps to make it, which are unwrapping it and popping it in the oven. Butterball made a “specially formulated” brine that keeps the meat moist during the roughly 5-hour long roasting process.

Persons: Butterball, Cook, it’s, Neil Saunders, ” Saunders, Harris Teeter Organizations: New, New York CNN, GlobalData, CNN, Walmart, Kroger Locations: New York, Turkey

Outside the Mellow Mushroom, there was a long line of people Tuesday waiting for something that has also been hard to come by — pizza. Gerry Mahon, who owns the popular pizzeria on Broadway Street, said he has given out $5,000 worth of pizza to his fellow storm survivors. "It’s good," a delighted Charity Padilla, of Asheville, said after she secured one of the precious pies. A long line of cars queued up Tuesday at a drive-thru water distribution center at Asheville Middle School. Koral Alexander, who lives near Pisgah National Forest outside Asheville, said she was in town watching a friend's dog when the storm hit.

Persons: Hurricane Helene, Gerry Mahon, Mahon, Helene, Charity Padilla, It’s, I’ve, ” Padilla, “, Alyse Goodman, Sean Morrison, ” Goodman, Goodman, Morrison, chow, Jeanisha Williams, Williams, We've, ” Williams, We’ve, Andrez Vives, Brianna Lee, Lee, Harris, it’s, Sala Menaya, Merritt, Menaya, Koral Alexander, Alexander, Minyvonne Burke, Corky Siemaszko Organizations: YMCA, Asheville Middle Locations: ASHEVILLE, N.C, Hurricane, Florida, North Carolina, Buncombe County, Asheville, Asheville's Hillcrest, Pisgah, Forest, New York City

☆ Boomer Loves Retirement, Living in DC, Gets Government Benefits
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-24 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Cole is an example of what retirement can look like with a good savings plan and a variety of government assistance programs. Her prior government role left her with a hefty retirement benefit; she still gets healthcare. She's taken advantage of a few water aerobics classes in DC and was swimming up at a pool near Capitol Hill. "The last season," what she calls the "senior season" of life, is the best, Cole said. "I know people think they're in a good season now, but live long enough to get that Medicaid card," she said, adding: "I don't have nobody to tell me what to do.

Persons: —, Carol Cole, she's, Fred —, Cole, scot, didn't, Carol, Harris Teeter, Ross, She's, It's Organizations: Service, Fiat, Business, Produce, Kennedy Center, DC, Amtrak Locations: Washington, Charlottesville , Virginia, bam, It's, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, Reno, Vegas

☆ How viral olive-oil brand Graza tapped influencers for its largest product launch after slashing its marketing budget
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewTwo-year-old Graza has popularized squeeze bottles filled with olive oil that appear in seemingly every food influencer's social videos. And those influencers are playing a key role in the brand's largest product launch to date beyond the squeezable bottles: Beer-can refills. On May 9, Graza rolled out beer cans of olive oil, sending the new product to about 300 creators, said Kendall Dickinson, head of social and influencer marketing for Graza. The goal was to show people how to refill the signature squeezable bottles with more sustainable cans and a kitchen funnel. For example, a TikTok and Instagram video shows how to make onion rings using Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Graza's olive oil.

Persons: —, Graza, Kendall Dickinson, Andrew Benin, influencers, Dickinson, Harris Teeter, We've Organizations: Service, Graza, Business, Procter, Gamble, Walmart Locations: Benin

☆ US government sues to block largest supermarket merger in history
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued to block the $25 billion deal between Kroger and Albertsons, alleging the largest supermarket merger in US history would lead to higher prices for consumers. The merger, announced in 2022, sought to combine the fifth and tenth largest retailers in the country. “This supermarket mega merger comes as American consumers have seen the cost of groceries rise steadily over the past few years. With the FTC’s blessing, Haggen, a small supermarket chain in the Northwest with just 18 locations, bought 146 of the former Albertsons and Safeway stores. She criticized the FTC’s handling of Albertsons’ deal with Safeway, pointing to it as a prime example of the limitations of divestitures.

Persons: Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Kroger, Rodney McMullen, Henry Liu, Piggly, Khan, Lina Khan, Haggen, ” Khan, “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, Federal Trade Commission, Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Bureau of Labor Statistics, FTC, Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Competition, S Wholesale Grocers, Democrats, Republicans, Capitol Locations: New York, United States, Aldi, FTC’s, Northwest

☆ Kroger Agrees to Pay $1.2 Billion to Settle Opioid Claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Rebecca Robbins | More About Rebecca Robbins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Background: Pharmacy chains have been settling opioid claims. Three large pharmacy chains that compete with Kroger — Walgreens, CVS Health and Walmart — reached similar settlements last year totaling about $13 billion. The claims against Kroger and its competitors have focused on the role of their pharmacies in flooding communities with legal painkillers. Why It Matters: Opioid settlement money is funding recovery efforts. Kroger said on Friday that the opioid settlement agreement would not impede the merger.

Persons: Kroger, Walmart —, overprescribing, Josh Stein, ”, Harris, Jan Hoffman Organizations: Kroger, Walgreens, CVS Health, Walmart, Rite, Albertsons Locations: Washington State, West Virginia, North Carolina

Lawyers for Kroger said in a filing in California federal court that the grocery store shoppers who sued over the deal have failed to define the relevant market necessary to evaluate grocery store competition and to identify how the acquisition would hurt consumers. The attorneys said the lawsuit was lacking "real-world facts." U.S. competition law "does not turn every grocery store consumer in the country into a roving antitrust enforcer," lawyers for Kroger told U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria. State antitrust enforcers also are looking at the deal. The case is Whalen v The Kroger Co, Albertsons Companies Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

☆ Grocery consumers sue to block Kroger’s $25 bln buy of Albertsons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Kroger is the biggest grocer in the U.S. by revenue, and Albertsons is the second-largest supermarket chain. Nearly 5,000 grocery stores would be under one corporate umbrella if the deal, announced in October, goes through. A representative for Albertsons declined to comment on Friday, and a Kroger spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Kroger operates stores under banners including Harris Teeter, Pay Less and King Soopers. U.S. antitrust law lets private consumers sue over proposed mergers and acquisitions, apart from any enforcement action brought by a state or federal agency policing competition laws.

☆ Kroger and Albertsons would likely shutter stores as part of a planned merger. See if your local store is at risk.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kroger and Albertsons could sell or close stores if their $20 billion merger is approved. A map showing Kroger and Albertsons stores KrogerIn some ways, the companies' store networks complement each other. As part of the deal, Kroger and Albertsons have agreed to sell up to 650 stores. Eliminating stores in those locations is one way that Kroger and Albertsons could cut costs as a combined company, he added. In order to get federal approval for their merger, Albertsons and Safeway had to sell just under 150 to another grocery chain.

☆ Investors will reap billions if Kroger takes over Albertsons. Workers and shoppers may not be as happy.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Gretchen Morgenson | Gretchen Morgenson Is The Senior Financial Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. A Former Stockbroker | She Won The Pulitzer Prize In For Her | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Wealthy investors in Safeway’s parent, Albertsons Companies, have done better. And next week, they were slated to reap a $4 billion cash dividend in connection with a proposed $25 billion takeover of Albertsons by rival Kroger. Based on that stake and the amount of the dividend, Cerberus stands to receive roughly $1 billion of the dividend payout. Six of Albertsons’ 14 directors who voted for the dividend are affiliated with the major investors. This is the last, best and final hope for a truly unionized chain.”Nervous about the pensionThe proposed $4 billion cash dividend is large by many measures.

☆ Key inflation gauge for the Fed rose 0.5% in September, in line with expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An economic gauge that the Federal Reserve follows closely showed that inflation stayed strong in September but mostly within expectations, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday. The core personal consumption expenditures price index increased 0.5% from the previous month and accelerated 5.1% over the past 12 months, the report showed. The monthly gain was in line with Dow Jones estimates, while the annual increase was slightly below the 5.2% forecast. Including food and energy, PCE inflation rose 0.3% for the month and 6.2% on a yearly basis, the same as in August. However, when adjusted for inflation, spending rose just 0.3%.

☆ What would a Kroger-Albertsons merger mean for grocery prices?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A Kroger-Albertsons merger could reshape the grocery industry. The companies say they will divest hundreds of stores in areas where they overlap to win regulatory approval. Albertsons has higher prices than Kroger and other grocers, analysts say, and they predict Kroger will try to reduce Albertsons prices to be more competitive against discount chains like Aldi. Antitrust advocates say the merger would force out competition and concentrate power among the largest chains, driving up prices. A Kroger-Albertsons merger would spark a fresh wave of mergers and acquisitions as companies seek to keep up, analysts predict.

☆ Premarket stocks: The housing market is a mess, but this isn't 2008
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But within those reports, investors found ominous clues about the future of the housing market, underscoring fears of an upcoming crisis. “We’ve had a time of a red-hot housing market all over the country,” Fed President Jerome Powell told me in September. “For the longer term what we need is supply and demand to get better aligned so that housing prices go up at a reasonable level…and people can afford houses again. “This is the sharpest turn in the housing market since the housing market crash in 2008,” said Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, last month. What’s next: Investors will next look to housing starts data next week as an indicator of where the housing market is headed.

☆ A merger with Albertsons could bring Kroger's tech initiatives, like automated warehouses and smart carts, to over 5,000 locations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Kroger is building its own tech infrastructure, including automated warehouses for delivery orders. Here are Kroger's biggest e-commerce and technology initiatives:A ClusterTruck ghost kitchen inside a Kroger in the Midwest. The delivery-focused ghost kitchen touts a Cheesecake Factory-inspired menu of 80 to 100 food items. Over the last few years, ClusterTruck opened locations inside Kroger stores in Indiana and Ohio. Another partnership, this one with the autonomous-car startup Nuro, has stationed self-driving vehicles to deliver grocery orders in certain cities since 2018.

☆ Kroger deal to buy rival grocery company Albertsons could be announced this week
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Melissa Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Kroger could announce a deal to buy rival grocery company Albertsons this week, sources told CNBC's David Faber. The companies could announce the all-cash deal as soon as Friday morning, sources told Faber. Albertsons' market cap is about $14.9 billion. Its stores, which now include Amazon Fresh, still command a small percentage of the overall U.S. grocery market, but sparked a wave of investment. Kroger, for example, struck a deal with British online grocer Ocado to build huge robot-powered fulfillment centers to pick and pack online grocery orders.

☆ Chipotle Mexican Grill will test robotic tortilla chip maker 'Chippy' in California restaurant
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Chipotle Mexican Grill is moving one step closer to having a robot make its tortilla chips. The burrito chain said Tuesday that it will test "Chippy," an autonomous kitchen assistant made by Miso Robotics, next month in a restaurant in Fountain Valley, California. Chipotle has already tested Chippy's ability to make and season its tortilla chips with salt and lime at its headquarters' innovation hub in Irvine, California. Today, workers at Chipotle restaurants fry and season the chips, which can be time consuming. Restaurants and retailers have been testing robotics and automation to speed up operations and reduce menial tasks for workers.

☆ Kroger is doubling down on its subscription delivery business as it weans itself off of Instacart. Here's a rundown of its other initiatives, from ghost kitchens to smart carts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Here are Kroger's biggest e-commerce and technology initiatives:A ClusterTruck ghost kitchen inside a Kroger in the Midwest. ClusterTruckGhost kitchensIn December 2019, Kroger began improving its prepared meals offering by partnering with ghost kitchen startup ClusterTruck. The delivery-focused ghost kitchen touts a Cheesecake Factory-inspired menu of 80 to 100 food items. Over the last few years, ClusterTruck opened locations inside Kroger stores in Indiana and Ohio. But the firm, which tracks where consumers shop, said Kroger stores with the ghost kitchens are seeing an uptick in visits compared to neighboring Kroger branches.

☆ Meet the typical Kroger shopper, a married suburban Baby Boomer earning over $80,000
▼ + stars: | 2021-09-07 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Kroger's average customer is a married suburban Baby Boomer who earns $80,000 per year, per Numerator analysis. Numerator found that Kroger's typical shopper is a married suburban Baby Boomer who has at least some college education and an annual income of more than $80,000. Kroger offers more than 15,000 private label items, and the typical shopper often prefers to buy from that selection. While 8.6% of a Kroger shopper's total dollars are spent at Kroger, they spend more at Walmart with 10.9%. Read more typical shopper profiles:

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