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☆ Why Taco Bell’s free taco giveaway is happening everywhere but New Jersey
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The giveaway is valid in 49 states but not in New Jersey, the only place where the Taco Tuesday trademark is not canceled. Taco John’s, the regional taco chain that had “Taco Tuesday” trademarked for 34 years, announced last month that it’s ending its fight in defending the phrase against Taco Bell’s lawyers. Taco Bell argued “Taco Tuesday” is a common phrase every restaurant should be able to use. Leading up to the event, Taco Bell will offer a free Doritos Locos Taco on Tuesdays (August 15, 22, 29 and September 5). CNN has reached out to Taco Bell about its plans for New Jersey.

Persons: Taco Bell, Taco John’s, We’re, ”, Emma Gregory, Gregory, Gregory’s, Gregory Gregory, “, “ We’ve, Taco, Jim Creel, Josh Gerben Organizations: New, New York CNN, Taco, US, Taco John’s, CNN, Taco Bell, Locos Locations: New York, New Jersey, Somers Point , New Jersey, Taco, Jersey, –, . New Jersey

☆ Amazon will soon let you order Doritos and Diet Coke from Whole Foods along with your organic kale
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Currently, customers have to order separately from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods, and Amazon.com. Amazon would like to make it possible to order these kinds of snacks and beverages along with a Whole Foods order. But for now, don't expect to see Doritos or Diet Coke, or other products with these banned ingredients in store. Starting August 2, non-members in select cities in the US will be able to order Fresh groceries to their doorsteps — a service that was limited to only Prime member holders previously. "We will accomplish this by more intentionally bringing together Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, Amazon Style, and Global Specialty Fulfillment under one global leadership team."

Persons: Coke, Tony Hoggett, Amazon's, Hoggett, Tayfun Organizations: Bloomberg, Amazon, Foods, Service, Tesco, Anadolu Agency, Getty Images Bloomberg Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Amazon will soon let you order Doritos and Diet Coke along with your order from Whole Foods
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Currently, customers have to order separately from Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods, and Amazon.com. Amazon would like to make it possible to order these kinds of snacks and beverages along with a Whole Foods order. But for now, don't expect to see Doritos or Diet Coke or other products with these banned ingredients in stores. Starting Wednesday, nonmembers in some US cities will be able to order Fresh groceries to their doorsteps — a service that has been limited to Prime members. "We will accomplish this by more intentionally bringing together Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, Amazon Style, and Global Specialty Fulfillment under one global leadership team."

Persons: Coke, Tony Hoggett, Amazon's, Hoggett, Tayfun Organizations: Bloomberg, Amazon, Foods, Service, Tesco, Anadolu Agency, Getty Images Bloomberg Locations: Wall, Silicon, nonmembers

☆ PepsiCo beats earnings estimates, raises full-year outlook even as higher prices hurt demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

PepsiCo on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations, despite falling demand for its drinks and food. Shares of the company rose more than 2% in premarket trading. But the company's volume fell as higher prices for its snacks and drinks hurt demand. Quaker Foods North America's volume shrank 5%, and Pepsi's North American beverage unit reported volume fell 4.5% in the quarter. However, Frito-Lay North America was one bright spot, reporting 1% volume growth.

Persons: Ruffles Organizations: Pepsi, PepsiCo, Refinitiv, Quaker, Frito, Lay, Lay Minis Locations: Crockett , California, America

☆ Don’t Sell Edibles That Look Like Doritos, Federal Officials Tell Companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Suryatapa Bhattacharya | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-sell-edibles-that-look-like-doritos-federal-officials-tell-companies-5a20a3f3

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ 'Stoneos' cannabis cookies look too much like Oreos, says US FTC
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

All are marked as containing THC - the ingredient in marijuana that produces a high - in a lower corner of the package. "Ten of the reports specifically mention the edible product to be a copycat of popular foods," the letter said. It said it was seeking legislation that would criminalize selling THC edibles using packaging that infringes on that of famous snack brands. The letters from the FTC and FDA were sent to Delta Munchies LLC, Exclusive Hemp Farms, North Carolina Hemp Exchange LLC, Dr. Diane Becker, manager of NC Hemp Exchange LLC, said the company had received the letter and was no longer selling the products in question.

Persons: Jolly, Gummies, Diane Becker, Smoke, Diane Bartz, Bill Berkrot, David Holmes Organizations: U.S . Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Delta Munchies, North Carolina Hemp Exchange, Smoke LLC, Nikte's Wholesale, NC Hemp Exchange, Thomson Locations: North

☆ McDonald’s bet on viral success with its Grimace shake. TikTok users are pretending it killed them
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Since the debut of the Grimace shake earlier this month, TikTok users have been excitedly ordering the shake, released in honor of McDonald’s character Grimace’s “birthday,” and then pretending to die on camera after consuming the purple beverage. They often dump the shake over their convulsing bodies, apparently signaling that Grimace, that bumbling bestie of Ronald McDonald, killed them. The Grimace shake, though, has become more infamous than beloved. In a typical “Grimace Shake” TikTok, an enthusiastic young person, Grimace shake in hand, will wish the big purple mascot a happy birthday before taking their first sip. When reached for comment, McDonald’s referred CNN to a tweet from Grimace: “meee pretending i don’t see the grimace shake trendd,” along with a photo of the purple one himself, eyebrows raised.

Persons: McDonald’s, Grimace’s, ”, Ronald McDonald, Matthew Prince, “ It’s, it’s, Grimace, J Balvin, Travis Scott, they’ve, Grimace wasn’t, execs, Ronald McDonald’s, Hamburglar, Bell’s, grimace, “ Organizations: CNN, Chapman University, buzzy, Wine, Wednesday Locations: California, ”

☆ Was mass hysteria behind the mysterious case of 227 middle school students fainting last fall?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Lillian Perlmutter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

On September 23, 2022, 12-year-old Esmeralda walked out of the girls' bathroom at her middle school in Tapachula, Mexico, and fainted. Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador began including regular updates on the government's investigation into the fainting episodes in his daily press conferences. Dr. Carlos Alberto Pantoja Meléndez, one of Mexico's few field epidemiologists, had taken an interest in the fainting episodes. News of the initial fainting episodes had been shared there, the epidemiologist, who asked to remain anonymous, told Pantoja-Melendez. Both believe that the fainting episodes in Mexico were examples of something new and alarming: mass hysteria spreading online.

Persons: Esmeralda, Diala, Gladys, Esmeralda's, convulsing, Esmeralda Eva Alicia Lépiz, —, Esmerelda, Mami, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, Gladys didn't, Bochil, Luis Villagrán, bristled, Susanna, Tapachula, Diala's, José Eduardo Morales Montes, they'd, Eva Alicia Lépiz, Hidalgo —, I've, Carlos Alberto Pantoja Meléndez, Pantoja Meléndez, Meléndez, Robert Bartholomew, Bartholomew, Lopez Obrador, busily, Simon Wessley, schoolgirls, twitching, we'll, Pantoja, Melendez, Bartholomew said, we're, We've, who's Organizations: Federal, Central America, Journalists, Mexico City —, Mexico City, Universidad Autónoma Nacional, University of Auckland, Roswell, Kings College, New York, Health Department, Pantoja Locations: Tapachula, Mexico, Bochil, Mexican, Chiapas, Mexico City, El Pais, Chiapas —, Central, Esmeralda, Mexico City — Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, México, University of Auckland , New Zealand, Veracruz, London, Southern Mexico, Kanshasa, Tanzania, Blackburn , England, Sweden, Pyuthan, Nepal, Leroy , New York, Tapachula .

☆ The Data Science Behind Raising Fast Food Prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Heather Haddon | Photographs Rachel Wisniewski For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The data team discovered instances when Flynn’s restaurant managers had boosted prices too much for individual items or too little compared with other types of food. At Flynn’s roughly 290 Taco Bell restaurants, for example, some stores had increased prices for the brand’s popular Doritos Locos Tacos by around a dollar more than the regular version, and some customers were starting to resist, executives said. The team advised managers to stop raising prices on that item.

Organizations: Taco Bell Locations: Flynn’s

☆ Higher Food Prices Bring Bigger Profits, but Consumers Start to Resist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lora Kelley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Brenetta Smith used to buy brand-name foods like Oreos and Doritos without thinking twice. But when she noticed that food prices at her local supermarket, Aldi, were soaring, she realized she had to do something different: “I have to change the way I shop,” she said. So Ms. Smith, 40, a stay-at-home parent in Memphis, started stocking up on dry goods like rice and flour, freezing meat that she bought on sale and avoiding packaged foods, which meant no more Oreos and Doritos. “Even when the world returns to normal, you can still maximize your paycheck and your income,” Ms. Smith said. She started posting budget tips on TikTok in December, and she quickly amassed a following.

☆ Consumers are wising up to 'greedflation' as food companies keep prices high
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Most consumers think food brands are using inflation "as an excuse to hike prices," a survey says. PepsiCo, Nestlé, Conagra, and other food companies say they are trying to cover their costs. While costs of raw materials, labor, and shipping have continued to be high, many food companies have reported leaps in profit at the same time. Many have noticed that food companies' profits have been increasing, too, a sign to them that some of the higher prices are about something other than covering production costs. Recent earnings from food companies suggest that many have raised prices higher than inflation.

☆ PepsiCo raises outlook as quarterly results beat expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Stefan Sykes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

PepsiCo on Tuesday boosted its outlook for the year as it posted earnings and revenue that beat expectations. Shares of the company rose more than 2% Tuesday, hitting a new 52-week high. Organic revenue, which doesn't include the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, rose 14.3%. PepsiCo Beverages North America's organic revenue increased 12%, with with Pepsi delivering double-digit net revenue growth and brands like Gatorade and Aquafina delivering high single-digit net revenue growth. The company said it expects its full-year 2023 organic revenue to increase 8%, up from 6%, and core constant currency EPS to increase 9% up from 8%.

☆ Pepsi’s New Healthy Diet: More Potato Chips and Soda
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Jennifer Maloney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For years, PepsiCo Inc. tried to move past its junk-food roots and shift its business toward hummus, yogurt, kombucha, vegetable crisps and fruit-and-nut bars. Never mind. The world’s largest snackfood company is back to pushing Pepsi, Doritos and Lay’s.

☆ From Twinkies to Doritos, Snacks Get Tiny
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Jesse Newman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Big food is going small. Sometimes too small. Within the span of a few months last fall, General Mills Inc., Hostess Brands Inc. and PepsiCo Inc.’s Frito-Lay unveiled mini versions of their iconic snacks and cereals, including pee-wee Trix, Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Doritos. The diminutive treats kept coming this year, with the debut of mini wafers from Hostess’s Voortman and McCain Foods USA’s bite-size mashed-potato puffs for restaurants.

☆ How PepsiCo is trying to get Doritos and Cheetos bags into compost bins
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Ian Thomas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

But more chip bags and snack containers being sold also means more waste from plastic and other packaging materials, something PepsiCo is aiming to take on. "Two years ago, if you think about our multipack packages, there was one plastic [packaging] outside, and each multipack serving," he said. McDonald's recently agreed under pressure from activist shareholders to produce a report on reusable packaging in exchange for having a shareholder vote on the issue rescinded. As far back as 2019, both Coke and Pepsi had already cut ties with a plastics industry association, and issued previous goals related to recyclable, compostable and reusable packaging. Taking what it learned from creating the Off The Eaten Path's packaging, Frito-Lay has introduced other packaging made from 85% renewable plant materials that produce roughly 60% lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional snack bags.

☆ PepsiCo Foods: From Seed to Shelf to Sustainability
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailPepsiCo Foods: From Seed to Shelf to SustainabilitySince taking over PepsiCo Foods, N.A. four years ago, Steven Williams has driven blistering growth at the $21 billion snack empire, which includes six brands each generating $1 billion in annual revenue – Cheetos, Doritos, Quaker, Tostitos, Lay's, and Ruffles. Overseeing nearly 70,000 employees, Williams calls himself a 'seed to shelf' CEO, with a core focus on the agricultural end of the value chain, working with farmers to sustainably move and sell its vast portfolio.

☆ My company is making us go back to the office 2 days a week to boost morale — but no one wants to be there
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Remote work was for tech people or consultants — not for regular folks. So when COVID first hit and I, along with almost every other office worker in the world, got sent home to do my job, I didn't know what to expect. But now, management is backtracking and saying we need to be in the office at least two days a week. Earlier this year, management ordered us to go back to the office two days a month; starting this summer, they've mandated two days a week. I'm looking for another job, which is frustrating since I'd rather stay with my company and continue being the productive remote worker that I am.

☆ The Hidden Ecosystem of Free Vacation Stuff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Dawn Gilbertson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Danielle Thomas dashed off one last Facebook post from Las Vegas on the way to check out of her hotel last week. It wasn’t like her others. Instead of nightclubs and a desert ATV tour, she featured a pile of Doritos, Cheetos, orange juice, coffee creamer and water bottles stashed next to a vending machine on the 16th floor at the Horseshoe Las Vegas hotel. They were leftovers from a Walmart delivery to her room at the start of her trip.

☆ How this 26-year-old went from running bitcoin trading desks in Taco Bells to creating the largest crypto exchange in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +28 min

Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice just before meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Accra, Ghana. Chris MauriceFrom there, Yellow Card users can send or receive digital cash in eligible markets. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice in Accra, Ghana loading cash onto his Mobile Money account, MoMo. Yellow Card has facilitated $1.75 billion in transactions since launching in 2019 and has about 220 employees – mostly in Africa. A resident checks his phone outside a mobile money kiosk in the Kibera district of Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.

☆ Super Bowl LVII commercials came with serious star power from Steve Martin, Jack Harlow, and Ben and Jen at Dunkin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Dunkin' DonutsDunkin' Donuts staked an early claim, surprising viewers with a Super Bowl ad featuring Ben Affleck in a brief stint as a Dunkin' employee. T-MobileT-Mobile opted for a more low-key approach, recruiting movie star Bradley Cooper and his mother to pitch viewers on the benefits of the mobile carrier. At least, that's what the plan was when Cooper was signed to do the commercial, the ad says. DoritosDoritos has become one of the most notable Super Bowl advertisers in recent years, and the chip brand continued its run, calling on music star Jack Harlow for most of its triangle-themed ad. In the ad, Harlow decides he is going to quit rapping in order to pursue his new passion: the triangle.

☆ Walmart skipped running a Super Bowl commercial this year but still got tons of free promotion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Instead of running a Super Bowl commercial, Walmart found a way to play off other companies' ads. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant hasn't had a Super Bowl advertisement since 2020Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Throughout the evening, Walmart tweeted out links to products related to those featured in other companies' commercials. The last time Walmart featured a Super Bowl ad was in 2020 when the retailer touted its grocery pickup service. Here are some other Tweets where Walmart advertised its products on Super Bowl Sunday.

Kickoff for Super Bowl LVII is at 6:30 p.m. The Super Bowl is advertising's biggest stage, with companies jockeying for a limited supply of spots to get their products in front of millions of consumers' eyeballs. Fox said it raked in a record amount of Super Bowl ad revenue this year. Absent this year will be crypto companies. Last year, four cryptocurrency companies shelled out millions for commercial spots during the big game.

☆ M&Ms Super Bowl commercial: How ads have become weeks-long campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Super Bowl commercial, billed as the conclusion to weeks-long drama surrounding the status of the “spokescandies,” left some viewers scratching their heads. But if you weren’t paying attention, the final commercial might be a head scratcher -— one risk a brand takes when it uses a weeks-long campaign ahead of its Super Bowl commercial. In a change for the decades-old Super Bowl ad wars, it’s actually become a commonplace strategy to use social media to tease, preview and create buzz ahead of their Super Bowl commercials. Companies spend millions just for a Super Bowl ad slot — reportedly over $7 million for some 30-second spots — before investing into the commercials themselves. Dance contests and bettingDespite the high cost of a Super Bowl commercial, companies are eager to nab a spot.

☆ Elon Musk tells Twitter users to 'press the heart' in an apparent bid to boost ad engagement
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk is asking Twitter users to "like" adverts to help boost engagement on the platform. "Press the heart," he tweeted on Friday in a comment about an ad for Hyundai. The "Chief Twit" is calling on Twitter users to comment and like some ads on the platform, in an apparent attempt to boost interaction. The ad has had more than 8.5 million views but only about 6,000 likes. The worker suggested it was as a result of a lack of public interest since he bought Twitter, per Platformer.

☆ The 2023 Super Bowl Ads Will Feature Booze, Betting and Jesus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Megan Graham | Patrick Coffee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

The Super Bowl ads on Sunday are poised to promote an unusual mix of alcohol brands, gambling and Jesus. The Super Bowl still regularly draws an audience of around 100 million people, making it TV’s biggest event of the year and advertising’s biggest night. Planters’ Super Bowl ad features comedians mocking Mr. Peanut. The ads are likely to strike a lighter tone than the occasionally somber messages of Super Bowl ads in recent, highly politicized years or the early pandemic, said Anjali S. Bal, an associate professor of marketing at Babson College. Many Super Bowl advertisers have again released their ads well before Super Bowl Sunday to increase their chances of being seen.

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