Week 6 in the Food Industry

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Starbucks-to-soon-begin-Via-rb-1684938654.html?x=0&.v=1


Starbucks to soon begin Via sales in Japan, UK


On Wednesday March 3, 2010, 7:04 pm EST
By Lisa Baertlein


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (NasdaqGS:SBUX - News) said on Wednesday that its cafes in the United Kingdom and Japan will soon sell its Via instant coffee, which helped boost same-store sales at U.S. outlets in the latest quarter.
Via, which takes aim at established brands such Nestle SA's (VTX:NESN.VX - News) Nescafe and Kraft Foods Inc's (NYSE:KFT - News) Sanka, will begin being offered in the United Kingdom on March 8 and in Japan on April 14.
The product, which debuted six months ago in the United States and Canada, helped fuel higher fiscal first-quarter sales at U.S. Starbucks restaurants open at least 13 months.
While Via did help the company post its first quarterly rise in U.S. same-store sales in two years, executives said it would be "profit neutral for fiscal 2010" due to aggressive marketing spending to support its global launch.
Instant coffee is far more popular in markets outside the United States and investors will be watching to see whether Via can steal market share from established products in the United Kingdom and Japan.





http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Artisanal-Premium-Cheese-bw-936104086.html?x=0&.v=1


Artisanal Premium Cheese Announces $2.5 Million Funding for Retail Store Roll-out
- Enhances Balance Sheet and Simplifies Capital Structure –

Press Release Source: Artisanal Premium Cheese On Thursday March 4, 2010, 9:33 am EST
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American Home Food Products (OTCBB: AHFP - News), currently doing business as Artisanal Premium Cheese, today announced the closing of a $2.5 million financing. The terms of the financing include a three year senior loan with an interest rate of 8% to be paid quarterly, as well as 9.3 million shares of common stock.
As part of the conditions of the financing, the Company has agreed to the cessation of future preferred dividends with the goal of simplifying its capital structure and eliminating future dilution.
The company intends to use the financing to repay existing debt and obligations including the payoff of its $300,000 loan from Summit Financial. The balance of the capital will be used for working capital to execute the company’s retail roll-out.
Daniel W. Dowe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Artisanal commented, “Given the tight credit market, we are pleased to secure this capital at fair terms to shareholders. It will immediately impact our operating performance by lowering our inventory costs and increasing our overall inventory to best fulfill customer demand. We missed a lot of selling opportunities in our foodservice and online businesses in 2009 due to a shortage of inventory. This new funding will remedy this problem and help us execute on our retail store growth strategy with major retailers in the Northeast. Our expansion into the retail space is a natural extension of our presence in the highest segment of the restaurant and hotel industry, and provides our loyal customer base the opportunity to replicate fine dining experiences at home.”