Retail & FoodService

The number of bodegas in the city is indeed declining, says Jose Fernandez, president of the Bodega Federation of USA, an advocacy group for the stores, which claims to have 7,200 of the city's estimated 11,000 bodegas as members. He says the number of the stores in New York declined 20% in the past year, which he attributes to local factors such as rising rents and lower profits from tobacco sales rather than competition from national chains. …

A spokesman confirmed Tuesday that president Bill Parker has left the grocery chain after serving in the position for about 11 months. …

Kettle Cuisine recently partnered with Marriner Marketing Communications to develop a meaningful and differentiating brand platform for the company and its product line of soups and other premium quality kettle-cooked foods. Kettle Cuisine’s new “Honoring Food” campaign embraces the corporate culture and production process of treating food with respect. …

Consumers are eating burgers more often than ever before, according to new research from Technomic. The overwhelming majority of consumers (95 percent) say they eat burgers at least once a month—and cravings are driving this high consumption. Half of consumers (49 percent) cite cravings as one of the top reasons they purchased a burger on their most recent occasion. Additionally, year-over-year comparison data shows that the fast-casual “better burger” segment and customization formats are fueling the momentum of the burger category. …

Seamless North America LLC and GrubHub Inc., online meal-ordering services planning to merge, agreed to end exclusive deals with New York City restaurants. …