| HighRoads’ Customer Named Benefits & Compensation Superstar
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Joanne Armenio, Kraft Foods' director of international benefits and a HighRoads customer, has been named a Benefits & Compensation Superstar for her team's pioneering global employee benefits management strategy, that ensures high-quality, cost-effective benefit offerings for 94,000 Kraft employees worldwide. The third annual award, sponsored by Benefits & Compensation Solutions Magazine, honors HR professionals who are driving change in the benefits landscape – combating everyday challenges with strategies that dramatically improve business operations, plan quality and workplace productivity. Armenio and her team have gained significant insight into the cost- and value-drivers for employee benefit programs, which differ greatly across more than 70 countries.
Behind the Mc-scenes
McDonald's, having for so long served as global shorthand for junk food, has had to grapple with society's increasing distaste for unhealthy eating. After introducing salads and sandwiches to its menus, the chain is still trying to make its food healthier. Late last year it announced plans to cut back on unhealthy trans fats. In a bid to create greater transparency, McDonald's has been running an "open doors" programme in which customers are invited to go behind the scenes at restaurants and suppliers. In Poland, 50,000 people have taken up the offer. The chain is also putting more nutritional information on packaging and sourcing foods from sustainable sources. A new three-tier pricing strategy sells products at a range of prices for people on different budgets.
Students vote on food
University Dining Services and Gordon Food Service filled students' stomachs and warmed them up to spring break by throwing a food sampling luau.
Last night in the Union Multi-purpose room, each novice food connoisseur received a plate for sampling, a page of stickers to cast votes for their favorite items and a lei so they didn't stand out amongst the plastic palm trees.
Gail Finan, director of dining services, said the best way to provide students with what they want is to let them choose the items they would like to eat.
"We will be able to see very quickly what students want by looking at the stickers," she said. "Next year we will look at some of those items and make them available on campus."
Jeremy Lehman, a member of the food advisory board, said he thinks it is great that the students are also being given a chance to sample potential menu items, not just the food advisory board members.
Template for success
Though the types of businesses vary greatly, local business owners who have been successful at it all seemed to follow a template for success. • Know the business Though each of the small business owners came by it differently, all had a solid understanding of the business they started before diving in. For Eric Larsen, owner of Ben Franklin in Fergus Falls, operating craft stores was a family business, starting with his great-grandfather's store in Kindred, N.D. Larsen had worked at his father's stores throughout high school, and managed a Ben Franklin in Fargo for four years before opening the Fergus Falls store in 1984. “You have to have some background," Larsen said. “I'd hate to start a restaurant, for example, without any knowledge of the business." .
Kosher Distributors Stake a Claim in the Philadelphia Food Market
On Fridays, the warehouses at A&L Foods are practically bare. Shipments of groceries, refrigerated goods and frozen food -- all kosher -- have been delivered to supermarkets, retail stores, colleges and nursing homes throughout the Philadelphia region. The drivers set out early in the morning, to have their goods delivered well in advance of the Shabbas rush. A&L may be headquartered in Baltimore, where it has distributed kosher food since 1938, but last spring, it opened up a full-service warehouse in Bensalem for the distribution of exclusively kosher food to the area. One year later, it's doing just fine. Brand names like Manischewitz, Streit's and Zomick's make up some of A&L's nearly 6,000 items -- dry and perishable -- which make their way to stores throughout the region. In making the decision to start up a new location, the company realized that Philly was an almost untapped market with a great deal of potential, said Barney Brockman, who runs sales to area retail stores.
Give Your Baby a Healthy Start During National Nutrition Month
Baby Cubes & more, providing the highest quality organic food for babies and toddlers, wants to help health-conscious moms around the country get their babies off to a nutritious start. March is National Nutrition Month, and to celebrate, they're inviting moms to trade in a label from their conventional baby food for a free sample of BabyCubes™ certified organic baby food. According to a recent National Health and Examination Survey, the number of overweight children, ages 6-19, has tripled within the last 30 years. Many experts agree that diversifying babies' palates with fresh, nutritious foods, improves their chances of making healthy choices later in life. "We know moms would prefer their babies' food to be free of any additives or preservatives," said Iria Nishimura, CEO of BabyCubes.
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