The economy again, Del Monte and other news

Will consumers have a backlash against what they sense as misuse of the term locally grown? USA Today explores the topic in one of the news items below I snatched from the Web.

Locally grown sounds great but what does it mean? From USA Today:

Just how do some retailers define locally grown?

• Wal-Mart, the nation's biggest retailer, considers anything local if it's grown in the same state as it's sold, even if that's a state as big as Texas and the food comes from a farm half the size of Manhattan, as in the case of the 7,000-acre Ham Produce in North Carolina.

• Whole Foods, the biggest retailer of natural and organic foods, considers local to be anything produced within seven hours of one of its stores. The retailer says most local producers are within 200 miles of a store.

• Seattle's PCC Natural Markets considers local to be anything from Washington, Oregon and southern British Columbia.

US stocks decline as Fed rate cut fails to ease concerns From Bloomberg:

Equities around the world tumbled this month, wiping out more than $12 trillion of market value, after money markets froze, banks' credit losses grew and economic growth weakened. All 48 of the developed and emerging markets tracked by MSCI Inc. have declined in 2008, with 20 losing at least half.

One on one with Roubini

GHARIB: Professor Roubini, who or what is the major culprit of this financial crisis?

ROUBINI: First of all the Fed kept interest rates too low for too long and created the housing bubble. Secondly the Fed and the other regulators were asleep at the wheel and allowed all these toxic mortgages to be created without controlling it. Three, there was plenty of greed and excessive risk taking on Wall Street. And four, the rating agencies had major conflicts of interest because they were being paid by those that were supposed to be rating. So the blame is to be shared by many different culprits.

Every little helps as Tesco cuts sales target

SUPERMARKET giant Tesco has cut its sales targets for the first time in several years as it prepares for a difficult run.

Britain's biggest retailer is now budgeting for two per cent underlying sales growth in the UK instead of its usual three to four per cent.


Credit card losses sting banks

The August charge-off rate — the percentage of credit card loans written off as not being paid — spiked to 6.82% in August from 6.36% in July, Moody's Investors Service said earlier this month. Moody's added that the rate could rise to 7.5% by the end of 2009, above the peak of 7.1% in May 2003 after the last recession

Fresh Del Monte 3Qprofit falls but tops estimates

Del Monte saw strong growth in its banana sales, up 20 percent to $332.7 million as sales volume increased 5 percent in North America. Sales of gold pineapple were strong as well, up 13 percent in the quarter to $122.5 million.

Aldi: Grocer for the recession From Time:

The time appears ripe for deep-discounters, and Aldi is on an expansion tear. Last year, Aldi generated some $5.8 billion in U.S. sales, up from $5.3 billion in 2006, according to Supermarket News, an industry journal. It now has about 950 stores in 29 states and plans to open more than 100 stores in the next two years in Connecticut, Missouri and Texas. The company will have opened 100 new stores by the end of the year, double the number opened last year.


Wal Mart view: Big plans abroad: small U.S. stores

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it will continue emphasizing international expansion, particularly in emerging markets such as Brazil, as it trims U.S. growth, company officials said on Tuesday.

A day after declaring that it will curtail openings of its traditional U.S. stores and focus more on remodeling existing locations, the world's largest retailer by sales laid out a vision for growth during the second half of a two-day conference with investment analysts.

Revived grocery union takes aim at Fresh & Easy

Now, Fresh & Easy says it will recognize the employees as part of a bargaining unit only if they vote to become union members in "government-supervised secret-ballot elections." But its strategy might not work much beyond next year.

Labor leaders expect that if Barack Obama wins the presidency and the Democrats retain control of Congress, labor would gain passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. As proposed, it would allow union representation when a majority of employees signs cards requesting it and eliminate requirements for a National Labor Relations Board-supervised secret ballot.

Efforts grow to legalize a section of LA workforce

“The public doesn’t seem to know that we need immigrants,” he says, pointing out that incomers will take an increasing share of work as baby-boomers retire. “If we think we don’t need them then we won’t legalise them.”

Truck Rate Report - Oct. 29

Most rates are stable to down 5% or more. From the USDA Truck Rate Report:


A shortage of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions: onions from Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon. A slight surplus of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions: sweet potatoes from Atwater Livingston California, carrots and grapes from Kern District California, pears from Sacramento & San Joaquin Valley California, apple pears, grapes, peppers, apples, kiwi and lettuce from San Joaquin Valley California, lettuce, mixed vegetables, strawberries and raspberries from Salinas-Watsonville California, citrus, bell peppers and strawberries from South District California, and potatoes from San Luis Valley Colorado. A surplus of trucks was reported for the following commodities and regions: mixed vegetables from South Georgia, sweet potatoes from Louisiana and Mississippi, citrus, avocados and mixed fruits and vegetables from Mexico Crossings Through Texas and watermelons from Texas. Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon noted a truck shortage for refers, adequate for flatbeds. FIRST REPORT was issued for melons and mixed vegetables from Mexico Crossing Through Nogales, Arizona, melons from Palo Verde Valley, California and Western and Central Arizona and potatoes from Aroostook County Maine. All other districts reported an adequate supply of trucks.

What if Mexican labor supply dries up?

Does the slumping economy present the perfect time to purge the country of illegal aliens. Not so fast, my friend. Check out this iinteresting read here about the politic dynamics of the immigration debate from columnist Thomas D. Elias. Here is a telling excerpt:


Illegal immigrant Mexican workers are leaving this country in droves, crossing the border north to south and going back home. Some are already coming back because things are even tougher in Mexico, but so far, not most.
The reasons are many, including increased enforcement activity against American employers who hire illegals and more cooperation from local police in various parts of this country.
But economics are the main reason immigrants are leaving. As more companies cut budgets and banks foreclose on many thousands of homes, employment opportunities for unskilled illegal immigrants have diminished.
Over the last 18 months, according to Carlos Flores Vizcarra, the Mexican consul general in Phoenix, more than 2 million Mexican immigrants have returned home because of diminished opportunities here. That amounts to about 10 percent to 12 percent of all illegals who were in this country two years ago.
It may be the realization of a fantasy for the anti-immigration lobby, but it also might be a hint of a nightmare to come for other people and businesses. For one thing, farmers in many parts of America complained both of the last two years of a labor shortage. Whether or not it's coincidence, the prices of many foodstuffs rose steeply during that time and they're still going up.

Winning is what matters

Jack Welch, business guru and former CEO of GE, spoke at PMA this past weekend. While I didn't take notes during his speech, a couple of his remarks had some staying power. One of his maxims was that an economic downturn is a good time to " buy or bury" your competition, or raid a rival for a top talent. The team with the best players wins, Welch reminds us.

Another "straight from the gut" exclamation was that the greatest good a company can do is to make money. Making money allows the corporations to hire employees, reinvest profits and create economic activity. Without profits, a company will wither and die, and therefore will not be around to begin sustainability initiatives and propose well meaning and environmentally sensitive projects.

This is the extremely shorthand version, of course, but Welch has a point. And I found a Web site with a few more Jack Welch quotes that communicate the essence of his hard driving and brutally frank message. Here are a few more to chew on:

An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.

Control your own destiny or someone else will.

Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.

Giving people self-confidence is by far the most important thing that I can do. Because then they will act.

Strong managers who make tough decisions to cut jobs provide the only true job security in today's world. Weak managers are the problem. Weak managers destroy jobs.

If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete.