Retail & FoodService

One hundred fifty-five jobs and more to come. That's what Monmouth officials, executives from Cloverleaf Cold Storage and Gov. Pat Quinn envision for Warren County, which on Friday celebrated the groundbreaking of a major facility that will attach to Farmland Foods and spur economic growth in a part of the state still regaining its footing in the aftermath of the Great Recession. …

American consumers have not had their fill of organic products yet. In fact, sales of organic products in the United States jumped to $35.1 billion in 2013, up 11.5% from the previous year's $31.5 billion and the fastest growth rate in five years, according to the latest survey on the organic industry from the Organic Trade Association (OTA). …

A new study projects that grocery stores will be reducing their size in the future as convenience becomes more important than the variety of available vegetables. …

In a competitive grocery market, it’s important for retailers to pay attention to Hispanic consumers, he said. For example, in Katy, TX, Rafael Melara, a broker with Houston-based Hunington Properties Inc., estimates that 29 percent of the community’s population is Hispanic. Because of this shift in demographic, Melara said more supermarkets targeting the Hispanic population will most likely be built in Katy. …

San Francisco-based Instacart LLC is launching its one-hour grocery delivery service in Austin, its 10th city. The company’s business model includes a crowdsourced labor force called “personal shoppers” who shop for and deliver grocery orders providing their own transportation. …