IARW-WFLO's Weekly E-Newsletter                                                                             May 15, 2008
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In This Issue

Don't Risk Fines, Use the IARW Compliance Overview

Save the Date: Assembly of Committees

WFLO Helps Nicaraguan Processors Improve Profitability

California's Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measure

Productivity and Benchmarking Report

North Pacific Chapter Begins Strategic Planning Process

Wanted: Cold Chain Expert Who Likes to Travel

Connie Says: Stormy Weather

Cold Storage Industry News

Food Industry News

Government News

NEW! Take Action

Negotiating reporting requirements and compliance matters is no easy task and if done incorrectly, can cost your company tens of thousands of dollars. IARW has published a unique tool to help U.S. IARW Members comply with the myriad of federal regulations: the IARW Compliance Overview: A Synopsis of U.S. Reporting Requirements for PRW Executives. Developed by IARW Policy and Programs Consultant Benjamin Milk and a team of PRW executives, the Compliance Overview, is an easy-to-use document that is the only compliance guidance review for PRW executives by PRW executives. Download this free overview today.

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The Global Cold Chain Alliance Assembly of Committees will be taking place from July 26-29 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC. Registration information will be coming soon.

 

Sponsorship Opportunities Available: Sponsoring Assembly of Committees gives Associate Members the inside track for reaching over 150 cold chain decision-makers. We’ve created a range of targeted sponsorship options to give our Associates serious ROI. Learn more about these options.

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A key part of IARW-WFLO's mission is to promote the proper handling and storage of temperature-sensitive commodities. Recently, WFLO partnered with USAID and Louisiana State University to conduct on-site training and technical assistance for three Nicaraguan food processors. The project resulted in better operational efficiency, reduced costs, improved product quality, and expanded trade relations. See the full success story.

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California is currently developing a new regulation that will require long-haul tractors and box-type trailers to be equipped with technologies that reduce aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance, so as to help improve fuel efficiency within the state. The Heavy-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measure will impact all those who are involved in freight transportation within California -- including carriers, truck owner/operators, shippers, consignees, brokers, and warehouses. As currently envisioned, the proposed rule would impose fines of up to $1,000 on any warehouse found to be loading shipments in vehicles that do not comply with acceptable aerodynamic design. While the full text of the rule is not yet available, further information can be found on the website for the proposed measure. More information will be presented at a series of workshops being held by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to explain the proposed rule and elicit comments from industry. The next round of workshops will be held between May 21 and June 10. The workshops will focus on requirements affecting California businesses that ship and/or receive freight in 53-foot box-type trailers and others involved in the transport sector. It is expected that the final measure will be presented to CARB in October 2008.

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Want to know how your operation stacks up against the rest of the industry? Complete the 2008 IARW Productivity and Benchmarking Survey to receive your free Productivity and Benchmarking Report. Packed with operating benchmarks, financial benchmarks, KPIs, and wages and benefits information, this report houses our industry’s most relevant comparative data. It is members’ best tool for learning the key benchmarks of North American PRWs. The deadline for completing the survey is May 31 so members should act fast.

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Under the guidance of IARW Chairman Mike Henningsen and Global Cold Chain Alliance President & CEO Bill Hudson, the members of the North Pacific Chapter began to complete the strategic planning questionnaire.  This is part of a new planning phase to take the Alliance and its Core Partners into the future.  The Chapter met May 7-9 at the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, Washington, USA.  Other speakers were Ken Odza of Stoel Rives/Seattle who spoke about the legal side of food safety, Connie Phipps of Lockton Insurance who addressed insurance issues and Wendell Marshall of WMCS who covered trends in refrigeration.

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The Global Cold Chain Alliance is searching for experts in retail operations or experience in the HRI sector (hotel, restaurant, institutional food service).  If you or a colleague have experience in this arena and are interested in traveling internationally to speak at a seminar, please contact Richard Tracy at rtracy@gcca.org.  All travel expenses are covered.

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Many regions in the U.S. experienced inclement weather over the weekend. Remember to keep your claim/loss information handy and if you are insured under the IARW warehouse legal program, keep those laminated cards handy.  We have had warehouses that have suffered damage in last weekend's storms, but fortunately they had their contact information ready for a quick call to claims adjustors.  Claim adjustors should be able to assist you in many ways and to help you in protecting property in your care, custody, and control.  As always, call your IARW Service Team at +1 816 960 9946 if we can be of any assistance at all and don't forget about backup generators.

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Henningsen Cold Storage has been selected by the Port of Benton to operate a new Transload Center in Richland, Washington, USA. See full release.

Preferred Freezer Services new facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA is open for business. With this new facility, Preferred Freezer Services added 47 million cubic feet to the nearly 170 million cubic feet of space that the company currently has in its portfolio. See full release.

Stater Bros. Holdings Inc., the largest privately held supermarket chain in Southern California, will complete a new refrigerated distribution center by the end of the current fiscal year. The center is the final phase in the company's distribution consolidation. See full release.

The Ammonia Safety and Training Institute, a Global Cold Chain Alliance Strategic Partner, is holding the 1st Annual Ammonia Safety Day in Maryland, USA on June 18, 2008, 7:30 am - 5:00 pm. Program is free to attendees. More information.

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Business

Tesco announced the acquisition of 36 Homever stores in South Korea from the E-Land Group, for a total consideration of £958 million, including existing debt. See full release.

Russian food retailer X5 Retail Group N.V. said it has received approval from the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service to acquire the Karusel hypermarket chain. See full story from Forbes Magazine.

Irving Oil Limited and Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. announced the expansion of their existing partnership to include 252 Irving Oil convenience retail sites across Atlantic Canada and New England. See full release.

Wal-Mart Canada announced its annual expansion plans, including 25 to 27 real estate projects by the end of January 2009, the conclusion of its current fiscal year. See full story from the CNW Group.

Pollo Campero, a Guatemalan fried-chicken retailer, has teamed up with Wal-Mart to expand its reach to the growing Hispanic population in the U.S. and hopes to expand its reach into more than 20 Wal-Mart locations across the country by the end of 2009. See full story from The Associated Press.

Mexican quick-service brand The Taco Maker has signed a Landlord/Tenant agreement with Wal-Mart to begin franchising in Wal-Mart stores across the United States. See full story from QSR Magazine.

Campbell Soup Co. will expand its tomato processing facility in California, USA and use more locally-grown produce. The $23 million expansion will increase the plant only 2,400 square feet but boost production by 15 percent with new infrastructure and equipment. See full story from InsideBayArea.com.

Northern Foods, the largest U.K. maker of prepared meals, will shut a factory that supplies Britain's best-selling readymade dish to Marks & Spencer Group Plc after failing to renegotiate a contract with the retailer. See full story from Bloomberg.

Smashburger, owned by Consumer Capital Partners, plans to grow to 20 locations by the end of this year and eventually expand to 500 across the U.S. See full story from Rocky Mountain News.

WingStreet, the worlds largest delivery wing concept, is undergoing an aggressive expansion strategy as it plans to add more than 4,000 new points of access within newly built and existing Pizza Hut restaurants within the next three years. See full release.

New Products

Natural Harmony Foods announced that their full line of SoLean brand breakfast products will appear in the freezer cases of an estimated 600+ higher volume Target stores May 18. See full release.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market said it plans to introduce 250 new own-brand items to its stores over the next three months to cater to increasing customer demand. See full story from Supermarket News.

Baskin-Robbins, the world's largest ice cream chain, announced plans to sell soft-serve ice cream, one of ice cream's few growth areas. See full story from USA Today.

Kraft Foods has launched DiGiorno For One pizzas and California Pizza Kitchen For One pizzas. See full release.

Trends

 

High global food prices are likely to linger for two to three years while the world replenishes food stocks, senior White House officials said. See full story from Reuters.

Kraft Foods will raise prices this year to offset increasing commodity costs. See full story from Crain's Chicago Business.

Fish processor High Liner recently raised the price of many of its value-added seafood products in Canada by 3 percent. See full story from ReportBusiness.com.

The global surge in food and energy prices is being driven primarily by fundamental market conditions, rather than an investment bubble, say the majority of economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey. See full story.

 

China reported a deficit of $3.66 billion in agricultural product trade in the first quarter, against a surplus of $460 million for the same period of 2007. See full story from ChinaDaily.com.

 

China's consumer-price index accelerated to 8.5 percent in April from the year-earlier month as food prices surged. See full story from MarketWatch.

Surging U.S. exports on a range of goods including corn, soybeans and frozen pork are hitting a bottleneck in the nation's overloaded ports, threatening to crimp profits for U.S. farmers and agricultural processors at a time when it is easier than ever for them to sell their goods abroad. See full story from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Consumers gave some of the nation's retailers a little relief in April following months of dismal sales, but business was helped along by heavy discounting that could hurt fiscal first-quarter earnings. See full story from The Associated Press.

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House and Senate negotiators yesterday reached final agreement on a new farm bill that will spend close to $300 billion on nutrition, conservation, energy and farm subsidy programs over the next five years, but administration officials immediately announced that President Bush will veto it. See full story from The Washington Post.

 

Canada's food labeling system jeopardizes industry innovation and competition, according to the former head of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. See full story from FoodNavigatorUSA.com.

 

South Korea said it may demand a revision of a beef import agreement with the United States as the government struggled to quell widespread perceptions that American beef is unsafe. See full story from The Associated Press.

 

South Korean officials said they have killed all poultry in Seoul, the capital, to curb the spread of bird flu. See full story from The Associated Press.

 

About one third of EU turkey flocks designated for human consumption were found to contain some presence of salmonella between 2006 and 2007, according to new findings by the European Food Safety Authority. See full story from FoodProductionDaily.com.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the United States will begin exporting breeding cattle, bovine embryos; breeding, fattening and slaughter swine; and breeding and sport horses to Russia. See full release.

 

The European Union will probably lift its 11-year-old ban on imports of U.S. poultry, Enterprise and Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said. See full story from Reuters.

 

A U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating food safety asked ConAgra Foods and 46 other large food companies to list all food recalls and safety alerts they had issued since Jan. 1, 2000. See full story from Omaha World-Herald.

 

In the U.S., the Bush administration urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority. See full story from USA Today.

In a report on U.S. offshore aquaculture, the Government Accountability Office notes an effective federal regulatory framework will be critical to facilitating the development of an economically sustainable aquaculture industry. See full report.

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As part of the the Global Cold Chain Alliance's commitment to enhance the vital perishable food industry, Cold Connection is proud to introduce the new "Take Action" segment which will be devoted to promoting opportunities for you and your company to take action and make a difference in the global community. Content will focus specifically on projects related to developing the cold chain and hunger-relief programs.

The United Nations World Food Programme is accepting online donations to help victims in cyclone-affected areas in Myanmar. Make a donation.

Send suggestions for "Take Action" to Tori Miller.