Retail & FoodService

Chef Amanda Gargano, dining services director and executive chef of Traditions Restaurant at The Plains at Parish Homestead in Oneonta, N.Y., has been selected as the winner of the Emmi Roth USA Grand Cru® Getaway Contest. Gargano’s recipe for Grand Cru® Gruyere Cheesecake with Concord Grapes and Grand Cru®-Pistachio Tuile earned her a culinary vacation package valued at $10,000, as well as a 2-page recipe spread in Santé magazine. …

U.S. retailers may shy away from charging consumers extra to use credit cards, even though they are free to do so under a proposed legal settlement, because of intense competition in the industry. …

The Fresh Market, the North Carolina-based specialty grocery retailer, said today that it will open two new stores in the Sacramento area this fall. …

Smith’s Food & Drug Stores have launched a new brand that seeks to make the purchase of natural and organic products less confusing for its customers. …

The Sustainable Food Trade Association (SFTA) added four new members to its roster in the last quarter of 2012 bringing the total to almost 60 companies. The new members were EcoTeas (Ashland, OR), Guayaki (Sebastapol, CA), Hanover Consumer Coop (Hanover, NH), and Stonyfield Farm (Londonderry, NH). …