Plenty of consumers recycle their used wine bottles. Soon, they can buy wine in bottles made with 100% recyclable materials.

Closing the loop on this adult beverage, Ron Rubin Brands of Sebastopol, Calif. is launching the eco-friendlier bottle this month under the Blue Bin brand. Wine drinkers can buy Blue Bin Rosé, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varietals that are available in the new packaging, which is also shatterproof.

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The switch to the new format mirrors that product itself, made from sustainably grown California grapes. Blue Bin is also a Certified B corporation.

Beyond offering a more sustainable option to shoppers, retailers can benefit from this product launch in other ways. The bottle is 85% lighter than a glass bottle of the same size, which allows for more cases per truckload and easier handling in store. 

Meanwhile, other wine suppliers are looking at optimizing packaging and reducing their respective carbon footprints. Earlier this year, French winemaker Albert Bichot announced that it will be one of the first large wineries in the Burgundy region to become certified organic and is also reducing the weight of some of their bottles. U.K.-based packaging supplier Packamama teamed up with the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy group in March to create the first wine bottle made entirely from Prevented Ocean Plastic; collectors gather discarded plastic PET bottles that are sorted, washed, sanitized and turned into raw material flakes or pellets comprising a new circular package.In the United States, wine producer Boxt recently began shipping its wine in refillable packaging.

Weis Markets has expanded its Low, Low Price (LLP) program, which will now offer its customers lower everyday prices on more than 700 of its most purchased breakfast items.  

According to Bob Gleeson, Weis Markets’ SVP of merchandising and marketing, “This expansion will give our customers more opportunities to eat better and spend less on the groceries they already buy.” 

The Low, Low Price breakfast program offers price reductions on such items as: 

• Select Kellogg’s, General Mills and Post midsized cereals 
• Pearl Milling Co. Pancake Mix (52- to 55-ounce packages) 
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal (7.4- to 14.1-ounce packages) 
• Nature Valley Granola Bars (6-ounce packages) 
• Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts (six- to eight-count packages) 
• Weis Quality Cereals (10.6- to 18.7-ounce sizes) 

Since the launch of the program in 2019, Weis Markets customers have saved more than $30 million on more than 10,000 brand-name and Weis Quality products, according to the grocer. The program was expanded to produce in 2020 and frozen items in 2022. 

Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis Markets operates 197 stores in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and West Virginia. The company is No. 60 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its 2023 Top Regionals. 

Target has opened its first Target Last Mile Delivery (TLMD) extension supply chain facility. As an extension of an existing sortation center in Atlanta, the facility, located near a Target store in Smyrna, Ga., increases the reach of the company’s next-day delivery capability to more than 500,000 additional customers in the greater Atlanta area, increasing the number of people it can serve via TLMD by more than 30% to 3 million-plus shoppers in the market.

Orders that fall outside the sortation center’s delivery area are moved to the TLMD extension facility, where drivers working with Shipt pick them up for delivery. The facility currently processes as many as 1,500 packages per day, with plans to increase that number in the next few months. 

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“TLMD extensions represent the latest milestone in our journey to deliver a best-in-class experience for our guests — however they choose to shop with us,” explained John Mulligan, Target’s EVP and COO. “These facilities are a continuation of our innovative efforts to serve millions of guests and reach millions more while maximizing speed, efficiency and care across our real estate portfolio.”

In accordance with Target’s test-and-learn approach, the company will review expansion plans for these types of facilities as it works to expand its reach.

This past February, Target said it was investing  $100 million to expand next-day delivery capabilities to customers across major U.S. markets. 

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. is No. 6 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, with nearly 2,000 locations. Birmingham, Ala.-based Shipt is an independently operated, wholly owned subsidiary of Target.

The largest U.S. Asian supermarket chain, H Mart, has plans to open its first store in Utah. Located just outside Salt Lake City, the new store will occupy the site of the old K-Mart at 1442 West and 9000 South in West Jordan.

Asians have become Utah’s fastest-growing minority population by percentage during the past decade, up 50%, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune.

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According to ABC4.com, an opening date for the West Jordan location has not been yet revealed, though a representative for the supermarket chain said that the chain is hoping to have the store open by the end of the year.

Rapidly growing H Mart reportedly also has plans to open new stores in Sacramento, Calif.; Dallas; and Las Vegas. In addition, the company said in May that a location in Brookline, Mass., is “coming soon.”

Founded in 1982 in the New York City borough of Queens, H Mart offers a full line of Asian foods as well as a broad range of Western groceries to complement its full-scale offering, which includes many items found in a traditional supermarket. The popular Asian grocer is also known for its innovative food halls.

Based in Lyndhurst, N.J., H Mart operates approximately 100 stores across 14 states. The company is No. 82 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. 

Pop Up Grocer is on a summer road trip. As consumers are out and about more and embark on vacations, the discovery destination specializing in curated assortments in temporary sites is co-locating with another retailer.

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The specialty retail business announced that Pop Up Grocer will welcome shoppers at Nordstrom department stores in eight U.S. cities: New York City; Seattle; Chicago; Costa Mesa, Calif.; Century City, Calif.; San Jose, Calif.; McLean, Va.; and Austin, Texas. All locations will be open by July 7, right around the time when Nordstrom holds its annual anniversary sale, and will purvey a variety of artisan-style snacks and drinks.

Since Pop Up Grocer launched in 2019, the business has set up shop at nine short-term spots around the United States. In March, founder Emily Schildt opened the first 1,500-square-foot permanent store in New York City at 205 Bleecker Street in Manhattan.

Organic industry advisors and specialists Gwendolyn Wyard and Kim Dietz have launched Strengthening Organic Systems LLC (SOS), billed as the only advisory firm focused entirely on organic fraud prevention, supply chain investigations and compliance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic antifraud regulations.

SOS aims to strengthen the resilience and overall integrity of global organic supply chains by advising businesses in developing effective organic fraud prevention plans and compliance practices. Its immediate area of concentration is to support the implementation of USDA's Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) Rule, introduced by the federal government earlier this year to close gaps in current regulations to build consistent certification practices to deter and detect organic fraud.

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Wyard and Dietz have worked on numerous organic projects and task forces together since 2005, beginning with the formation of the Materials Working Group that assisted the National Organic Standards Board in the development of guidance on determining National List material classifications.

Most recently Wyard was VP of regulatory and technical affairs for the Washington, D.C.-based Organic Trade Association (OTA), where she was the lead developer and author of the association’s Organic Fraud Prevention Guide, now the industry standard reference for excellence in achieving integrity across complex organic global supply chains. Dietz has directly overseen 13 organic-handling operations, including the management of the successful certification of the first certified-organic handling facility in the United States. She has also led numerous task forces, committees and coalitions, including a stint as president of the OTA board.

Created to serve the organic food, nonfood and retail sectors, SOS has been named a Trusted Advisor for OTA’s Organic Fraud Prevention Solutions program. Trusted Advisors are experts in organic compliance and VACCP (Vulnerability Assessment Critical Control Points).