"grocery" news and stories

Add Albertson's to the roll call of companies shutting doors due to the recession. The grocery chain has announced that they will be closing multiple stores in economically slammed locations like Florida, Texas, California and Nevada. Albertson's will still be the second-biggest supermarket chain in the U.S., but a bit of the bloom will be off the rose (or, if you prefer, ripeness off the tomato or mayo off the macaroni salad).

Of course, this means that there are bargains to be had at stores that are being terminated, with discounts of 10-90% off. I myself have picked up bags full of Indian specialties for 75% off (thus, my normally overpriced $4 jaipur vegetables are now a solidly discounted dollar), as well as staples like soup and beans for less than a buck and stacks of disposable foil baking pans for a dime apiece. I also scored some Bumble & Bumble hair products for under $10, but you can't eat those.

If you see an Alberston's with a "Store Closing" sign, it's worth checking out.

• Read about one of Boston's most in-demand bartenders
• Delicious, creamy local goat cheese makes for great croquettes, squash blossoms, tomato soup...
• Want to make our own cheese? Feeling frustrated? Try a kit
• Doughnut Plant has an unbelievable selection of sweet, fluffy pastries, managing to thrive without the hype that so many competitors rely upon
  
• And if you can't make it to Doughnut Plant, try your hand at making your own orbs of sugary goodness
  
• A Boston couple becomes the first U.S. business to exclusively import African wine made by indigenous producers
  
• Find out how the owners of one Rhode Island-based grocery store can afford to keep prices so low
  

Store brand products can be more affordable and, in many cases, better tasting than their name-brand counterparts. With some products, the larger national brands actually produce the store-brands, which simply receive different packaging before being shipped out to stores. Personally, I'm an open minded shopper and don't usually discriminate between name brand and non name brand food items. I buy store-brand sodas along with Diet Coke and do price and ingredient comparisons with products I haven't previously tried, often to discover that the store brand is almost identical to the more expensive corresponding brand.

That said, there are still some products that I won't buy if they're an off-brand. I prefer Heinz ketchup, for example, and approximations of Honey Nut Cheerios just don't quite measure up. It's probably because they're familiar flavors that I grew up with, and for that same reason, you probably have some, too. What store brand products will you not buy?

Martin's Food Market, at their new location in Eldersburg, Md, is adding an unusual new type of employee to its staff: a nutritionist. The nutritionist will be available to shoppers, to help guide them through the aisles and make good food choices. She will also be able to answer general questions about health and wellness and customers can make one-on-one appointments with her for more in depth nutritional planning. It's not quite clear whether there will be a fee for the services of the nutritionist, although it seems more likely that there would be one for the in-depth appointments than the one-off questions of shoppers.

The nutritionist could point out that baked chips are a healthier alternative to regular ones, and help consumers read the labels so they know what they're getting. While many consumers already know what they should be eating, or what the healthier choices are, the nutritionist can provide the nudge that is needed to take that option.

The only reason for store to keep a nutritionist is to please the customers, since the nutritionist would inevitable steer people away from more processed, less healthful foods, which could hurt sales of those items. But if shoppers are coming in to meet with her or because they have gotten recommendations in the past, a loss of junk food sales wouldn't hurt the store. So the real question here is, would you take advantage of such a service if it was available at your local grocery store?

Source

Now that Amazon.com is selling groceries online, a whole world of opportunities has opened. Obviously, your day opens up since you don't have to spend time driving to the grocery store, pushing a cart around the store, waiting in line at the register, and perhaps even fighting with your kids about what flavor Pop-tart to get.

But an interesting thing has popped up with the Amazon.com grocery store. Customers are rating grocery products,just as customers rate books, CDs, and movies. This gallon of Tuscan Whole Milk has over 350 customer "reviews," also shows what other customers bought when they bought the milk. Hey, if they can tell you that customers who bought the DVD V is for Vendetta also bought Ultraviolet, Amazon can tell you that fellow customers who bought the Tuscan gallon milk also bought bananas, grapes and fresh vine-ripe tomatoes. Good to know.

No gift-wrapping on the milk, though.