Nexcerpt for: Consumer Products and Branding Editor: Nexcerpt Staff - Consumer Published at: Fri, Oct 10, 2003 10:52 AM EDT

US Consumer Information Center The Food Pyramid helps choose what and how much to eat. Nutrition Policy and Promotion Canadian nutrition policies and standards.

Manufacturers are meeting consumer demands by introducing healthier products, being socially responsible, and expanding into new markets.
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1. New York Times (NY), Wed, Oct 8, 2003 Kraft blends ethics with coffee beans Business / Newspaper / Daily ... In the case of Latin America and Africa, the price is often below the cost of production, threatening the livelihood of 25m coffee farmers and the long-term supply of quality beans.... the top spot, each buying nearly one in 10 bags of the world's coffee beans. Together with Sara Lee and Procter & Gamble, they buy and roast 40 per cent of world's supply. While details of the accord will not be made public until today,...   While other companies have marketed special brands or undertaken pilot projects, this marks the first time that a major coffee company has linked its mainstream brands to an agreement with a third-party certifier. "This step by Kraft marks the beginning of transforming the coffee industry," says Tensie Whelan, executive director of the Rainforest Alliance.
2. Miami Herald (FL), Fri, Oct 10, 2003 AP Wire | 10/08/2003 | Frito-Lay sales key ingredient of rise in profi... Front Page / Newspaper / Daily ... DALLAS - Plano-based Frito-Lay Inc. has demonstrated again why it's so important to the success of its parent company, PepsiCo Inc. Consumer enthusiasm for new products such as Lay's Stax chips and Frito-Lay's push to eliminate unhealthy trans-fats led PepsiCo to post... "We are selling all we can make," he said. The concept is a success, Stender said, because it takes advantage of consumers' love of Lay's chips. "There such is strong brand awareness that really brings it home to...   Frito-Lay is PepsiCo's "backbone operation," said Todd Stender, an analyst with Crowell, Weedon & Co. in Los Angeles. "My take is that they have such a commanding lead that it allows them to be creative and innovative."
3. USA Today, Mon, Oct 6, 2003 USATODAY.com - Reborn Polaroid betting big on digital kiosks Computing / Newspaper / Daily ... The speed comes at a price: no bells and whistles like cropping and enlargements. But Polaroid says 85% of the digital print market is first-time printing. Most customers just want to pick their best shots and print a role's worth on 4x6 paper, all in a transaction as easy as... only their best pictures, and print those at home. Gordenstein said it's good to see a strong new product once again coming out of Polaroid, based in nearby Waltham. "The word 'Polaroid' is synonymous with instant photography," said...   After surviving bankruptcy, Polaroid is reinventing itself to meet the demand for quick prints from digital cameras.
4. Akron Beacon Journal (OH), Mon, Oct 6, 2003 AP Wire | 10/05/2003 | McDonald's poised to introduce a changed McNugg... Business / Newspaper / Daily ... McDonald's poised to introduce a changed McNugget Associated Press CHICAGO - Hoping to take advantage of the changing tastes of consumers, McDonald's is poised to start selling a new Chicken McNugget. In the next six weeks, the fast food giant plans to introduce to all... McDonald's to Introduce Leaner McNugget - 04:15 PM EDT SEC, Investors Split on How to Pick Board - 03:41 PM EDT Procter & Gamble making big inroads in Russia - 03:07 PM EDT ...   McDonald's says extensive consumer tests over the past six months showed the time is right to shift from a McNugget that is 30% dark meat to one that's 100% white meat.
5. Chicago Sun-Times (IL), Thu, Oct 2, 2003 College students help Avon give new line a makeup test Business / Newspaper / Daily ... Avon had overall sales of $6.23 billion last year, compared with $6 billion in the previous year. The company aims to take teen business away from mass merchandisers, department store chains and smaller retailers. The big chains have been pursuing teen customers with trendier beauty items. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., for example, brought out a Mary-Kate and Ashley cosmetics line, named for the teenage TV celebrity Olsen twins. While Avon's representatives sell cosmetics at their home or where...   Avon, which began by selling cosmetics door to door to the middle-class woman, is focusing its direct selling on the 16-to-24 age group. So far, the reception has been strong.
6. Business Journal (PA), Sat, Oct 4, 2003 Heinz plans new products to match trends - 2003-10-03 - Pittsburgh Bus... Business / Newspaper / Daily ... 12:43 PM EDT Friday Heinz plans new products to match trends H.J. Heinz Co. announced several new products Friday that it said were designed to fuel growth in its domestic retail business.... $1.2 billion of the $2.5 billion in annual sales for Heinz-brand products. The other new products include a new line of Classico pasta sauces with meat, which Heinz said is the fastest-growing segment of the...   The new products, including a low-carbohydrate ketchup, "represent Heinz's intense focus on responding to and quickly driving consumer trends," Dave Moran, president of U.S. consumer products.
7. Miami Herald (FL), Wed, Oct 8, 2003 AP Wire | 10/05/2003 | Procter & Gamble making big inroads in Russia Front Page / Newspaper / Daily ... headquarters is the company's fastest growing market - Russia. Moscow residents are snapping up Tide, Pampers and other P&G products, and sales are growing 50 percent a year. The average Russian has only about $100 a month in disposable income... "In the U.S., it took us 40 years for the transition from cloth to (disposable) diapers," said P&G associate marketing director Alena Kudryashova says. "Here, we are in our 10th year." email this | print this...   Although the total volume is small, the 50% annual sales growth is unmatched in the West and the pool of potential customers is growing quickly.
8. Akron Beacon Journal (OH), Wed, Oct 8, 2003 AP Wire | 10/07/2003 | Xerox to End Its Sponsorship of Olympics Business / Newspaper / Daily ... "While we certainly appreciate the value of this investment and will leverage it during the Athens Games, Xerox has decided to refocus its marketing to other customer-facing initiatives," the company's chief marketing officer Diane McGarry said. Xerox became a partner of the Olympic movement in 1964 and joined TOP,... "Clearly we want to see where we can get our best return on investment. There's no question our market conditions have changed." Xerox said it has not decided if it will continue sponsorship arrangements with some national Olympic committees....   "This is a very large investment to make in the Olympics," said Xerox spokesman Carl Lengsenkamp. "If we can focus those dollars in other marketing areas, that's good for the bottom line."
9. Charlotte Observer (NC), Wed, Oct 1, 2003 Charlotte Observer | 09/30/2003 | Wal-Mart carts give snapshot of spen... Business / Newspaper / Daily ... said. That makes Wal-Mart, the world's biggest seller of toys, diamond jewelry, underwear and DVDs, a key indicator of whether U.S. consumers are spending more as a result of President Bush's $330 billion tax cut. "Any economist who does not pay attention to what Wal-Mart has to say... and Purex detergent, got 28 percent of its sales from the company last year. About 500 large manufacturers, including Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods Inc. and Sara Lee Corp., have set up offices in Bentonville,...   Economists pay attention to Wal-Mart's sales because they are larger than the combined total of the next four biggest U.S. retailers: Home Depot Inc., Kroger Co., Target Corp. and Sears, Roebuck & Co.
10. Christian Science Monitor, Tue, Sep 30, 2003 Coming to the grocery shelf: fair-trade food | csmonitor.com Front Page / Internet / Daily ... A label already on chocolate will soon appear on bananas By Rory Van Loo | Special to The Christian Science Monitor Consumers have saved countless animals by buying tuna labeled as "dolphin-safe" and cosmetics that are free from animal testing.... Regardless, fair-trade labeled products can be found in stores from Langdon, N.D., to Savannah, Ga., and consumers such as Janet Ranney, a clinical psychologist in Tucson, Ariz., are content to play even a...   The American fair-trade industry lags far behind Europe's. The list of fair-trade labeled products in Europe includes rice, mangoes, sugar, fruit juices, and even soccer balls. Europeans have been made aware of such products through government-sponsored education campaigns -something not found in the US.
11. CNBC / Wall Street Journal Business , Fri, Oct 3, 2003 How to fake being rich Business / Newspaper / Daily ... As much as customers may be trading up, the companies are trading down, because the demands of the market force them to. Virtually all the New Luxury titans are publicly held. And many went public in the 1990s. To meet investors' expectations, a company must show sustained growth, whether it's Tiffany or Wal-Mart. Of course, companies that sell premium-priced products tend to reach the limits of their natural markets more quickly than discounters do. And so New Luxury companies are likely to expand into areas where their natural...   "The American consumer is in a state of heightened emotionalism." After surveying 2,300 consumers, the authors concluded that "many Americans feel overworked, isolated, lonely, worried, and unhappy." The cure for some is shopping for premium-priced products.