Gourmet News

Giant Food Sets $2M Goal for Pediatric Cancer Fundraising

Published August 10, 2022

Giant Food launched its 18^th annual fundraising program in support of pediatric cancer research initiatives during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Giant has set a goal to raise at least $2 million over the eight-week program, running from Aug. 12 to Oct. 13, from the sale of $5 coupon books valued at over $45 each. All funds raised will be donated to Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and The Children’s Cancer Foundation, Inc. to support their ongoing cancer research.

Since the program’s initial launch in 2005, Giant Food has raised more than $27.9 million for pediatric cancer research. Throughout the campaign, Giant customers can participate by purchasing a coupon book at their local Giant store. Giant Delivers and Pickup customers can also participate and will have the option to make a donation of $1, $3 or $5 during online checkout.

“This campaign has been so successful year after year thanks to the help of our amazing customers and store associates and we are thrilled to join together once again with our communities to lend our continued support to Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and The Children’s Cancer Foundation,” said Ira Kress, president of Giant Food. “We are proud to be able to raise awareness and funds through this campaign to support the critical research of these two local organizations and their exceptional work treating and helping to eradicate childhood cancer.”

This year, three young local cancer fighters serve as Giant Food Pediatric Cancer ambassadors. These children, along with many others like them, have faced numerous challenges, but the treatments they have received from this program’s support have helped them to lead healthier and happier lives.

Eight-year-old Hannah Bean was diagnosed with Stage 4 Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma at the age of six. Hannah likes hanging with her two older brothers and playing ice hockey, singing, and dancing, but her favorite activities are painting and drawing. If Hannah could have any superpower, she would want the ability to cure every disease so nobody would have to get treatment.
Four-year-old Christopher Milecki was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive Leukemia at just 17 months. Christopher’s favorite activity is to play Minecraft and scooter outside. He loves eating McDonalds and Starbucks’ ‘white chocolate mocha’. His favorite superhero is Spider-Man and if he could have any superpower, it would be super strength.
13-year-old Jade Farmer was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia at the age of 10. She loves to listen to music and artists like Avril Lavigne, Blink 182, and Simple Plan are favorites. Jade also enjoys playing outside and trying new things. Her favorite superhero is Deadpool and if she could have any superpower, it would be to make all illness disappear.

“CCF remains grateful for the loyal and generous support of Giant Food,” expressed CCF President Tasha Museles. “Its commitment means that advances will be made in finding cures, ensuring that kids like Christopher, Hannah and Jade will not only beat cancer, but live healthy lives without struggling with side effects from treatment. Giant Food continues to lead by example.”

“The tremendous generosity of Giant Food and their surrounding communities, through their annual Childhood Cancer Campaign, provides vital funding for physician scientists to advance research initiatives leading to innovative care and personalized therapies for kids with cancer, as well as a platform to highlight the bravery and tenacity of our young patients as they navigate this difficult disease,” said Donald Small, M.D., Ph.D., director of pediatric oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

“On behalf of all of us within the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center’s Division of Pediatric Oncology, we are truly grateful for our partnership with Giant Food, which continues to make a difference in the lives of our patients today, tomorrow, and in the future.”

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Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond Launches Her First Snack Line

Published August 10, 2022

The best parts of fall are football games, family gatherings, and who could forget about the snacks?! Recipe guru and flavor connoisseur Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, is putting her signature touch on her first line of snack mixes that are perfect for this season and beyond.

“It’s no secret that I love to experiment and try new things in the kitchen, which is why I’m so excited to bring together some of my favorite flavors in my new snack mixes,” Drummond said. “Each variety of these over-the-top mixes packs an amazing array of flavors and deliciousness in every handful, like dark chocolate mini cups, nuts, caramel corn, and other scrumptious elements.

“Whether you need an easy snack for a tailgate or a yummy new option for movie night, your life is about to be changed by these mixes.” she said. “My favorite has to be the Spicy Cowgirl mix – nuts coated in cocoa powder, cinnamon and cayenne pepper make for a subtly sweet experience with a little kick!”

Pioneer Woman snack mixes are available in three varieties:

Pecan Sticky Buns Snack Mix
- Honey roasted pecans, white confectionary mini cups, and cinnamon sugar caramel coated puffs make for a delicious trio and irresistible snack option. (MSRP: $4.98)
- Knock You Naked Snack Mix
  - Containing gourmet caramel corn, salted pecans, mini brownie cookies, rich dark chocolate mini cups, milk chocolate caramel filled mini cups and coconut cashews, this mix is a perfect balance of sweet with a hint of salty. (MSRP: $4.98)
- Spicy Cowgirl Snack Mix
  - A mix of almonds, cashews and pecans coated in a blend of cocoa powder, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. To satisfy sweet and spicy cravings, this mix also includes dark chocolate mini cups with a mocha flavored filling and white confectionary mini cups. (MSRP: $4.98)

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Consumers Adjust Grocery Shopping to Avoid Going Without

Published August 9, 2022

Prices of consumer goods remain elevated across categories, according to grocery shopping data collected in July from Information Resources Inc. Prices for food at-home rose 1.2 percent from the end of June to the end of July, and 14.4 percent year-over-year as of July 31. In June, at-home food prices rose 1.2% versus May, and 13.7 percent year-over-year as June 30.

IRI, which recently merged with The NPD Group to create a leading global technology, analytics and data provider, released insights about food inflation and its impact on consumer grocery shopping behavior. The insights leverage the latest point-of-sale data for July 2022 and include data covering all U.S. food channels, including e-commerce.

“Consumers are responding to rising prices by shopping promotions, prioritizing value options, and trading down to avoid going without,” commented Krishnakumar (KK) Davey, president of Thought Leadership for CPG and Retail. “We are advising our manufacturer clients to deploy all levers of strategic revenue management, prioritize strong in-market execution, and invest in retailer partnerships to ensure that the right products are available in the right places at the right times. Additionally, retailers must have the tools to quickly adjust to changes in consumer preferences to ensure they are offering the right assortment at price points that appeal to price-sensitive shoppers as well as their most valuable customers.”

Key insights from July on grocery shopping habits include:

Persistent inflation. Food and beverage inflation continues to persist on a sequential and year-over-year basis, despite recent price decreases in other areas of the economy (such as gasoline). Categories with the five largest increases in prices include refrigerated eggs, frozen dinners and entrées, butter and margarine, frozen pizza and center store bread.
Limited relief for consumers. While prices of certain food categories have begun to decline in recent weeks, they still tend to remain elevated year-over-year. Categories with the five largest decreases in price include fresh citrus fruit, bacon, ice cream and sherbet, beef and packaged lunch meat.
Promotional activity is on the rise. Promotional activity – including weekly sales and coupons – in many food and beverage categories is returning to pre-pandemic levels as supply pressures ease and consumers increasingly look for the best deals. Recent data indicates that the top five food and beverage categories where promotion increased in the four weeks ending July 10, 2022, show close parallels to the same four weeks in 2019, before the pandemic, with nearly 50 percent of these top categories’ sales coming from promoted items.
Consumers are bargain hunting. Consumers are responding when promotions are available. In some of the most-promoted categories within the grocery channel over the trailing four-week period ending July 10, 2022, percent of dollar sales and percent of sales volume lift have increased significantly.
- 55 percent of ice cream and sherbet, for instance, was purchased at promotional pricing in the four-week period, 9 percentage points above what it was two months ago. These promotions generated 93% additional category sales, 13 percentage points more than what it was two months ago.
Consumers are opting for value-oriented categories to preserve quantity. Within food and beverage, overall volume and units have remained resilient despite price increases. However, data comparing the 13-week period ending July 10, 2022, versus the previous 13-week period reveals:
- Consumers are purchasing greater-value meal solutions, such as pasta (+6 percentage points, or “pp”), rice (+5 pp), frozen potatoes (+6 pp), and canned soup (+3).
- Consumers are buying less in categories such as sports drinks (-9 pp), ready-to-drink coffee/tea (-3 pp), frozen novelties (-6 pp), refrigerated entrées (-8 pp), and frozen dinners/entrées (-5 pp).
Consumers are trading down to more affordable brands within a category. Consumers are “trading down” or switching from a preferred brand or higher-priced product for one at a lower price point in many categories:
- In spirits, value brands increased their share 4.1 percentage points to 73.6 percent in the 13-week period ending July 31, 2022, compared to the prior 13 weeks, taking share from premium and super-premium spirits.
Private label continues to grow in many food categories. Consumers are transitioning away from national brands in categories where store brands are already well-known or in commodity categories. In the four-week period ending July 24, 2022, private label share grew most in the fresh eggs (+6 pp), sugar (+5 pp), sour cream (+4 pp), shortening and oil (+3 pp), butter/butter blends (+3 pp), flour (+2 pp), frozen meat (+2 pp), and bottled water (+4 pp) categories.
Premiumization continues in select categories despite the high inflation. Mirroring behavior from the Great Recession of 2008-2009, consumers are trading down when grocery shopping to trade up on small luxuries, including both premium and super-premium imported beer, which saw combined sales share increase 2.6 percentage points to 51.2 percent share of category sales in the same 13-week comparison. In a few other categories such as frozen dinners/entrées, refrigerated juices and drinks, higher-priced products in the premium tier have grown share by about a percentage point each.
Slower spending outside of food and beverage. Consumers are purchasing less in categories such as foil pans, household cleaner cloths, toilet tissue, facial tissue, laundry detergents and household cleaners.

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