Chipolte Struggles to Stop Food-Borne Illnesses, Win Back Customers
Chipotle Mexican Grill responded quickly when four of its workers called in sick last week with suspected cases of norovirus. The Boston-area restaurant was shuttered for cleaning, and no customers got ill. The company’s management considers that a successful outcome — a sign its updated health protocols are working. But customers, still wary of the chain after a string of outbreaks, didn’t see it that way. Headlines about the...
Tampon Tax: Does Being Female in U.S. Carry Unfair Costs?
New York — Margo Seibert and Natalie Brasington don’t think women should have to pay a “period tax,” and like a growing number of other women, they are publicly questioning whether being female in the U.S. carries unfair costs. The pair are among five New York City women who filed a lawsuit last week arguing that it was unconstitutional for the state to levy sales tax on tampons and sanitary napkins while offering medical product...
Conagra Playing Catch Up With Major U.S. Food Companies
In the 10 months since taking the helm at Conagra Foods Inc., Sean Connolly has sold a private-label unit for $2.7 billion, announced plans to spin off a business that supplies potatoes to fast-food chains, and decided to move the company’s headquarters to Chicago from Omaha, Neb. So why this flurry of changes? Conagra, it turns out, has a lot of catching up to do. In recent years, other big U.S. food and beverage companies, including...
Baking Bust Hits Pillsbury, General Mills
Minneapolis — For 95 years, Betty Crocker’s official portrait has radiated cooking confidence. She might sprout worry lines if she were contemplating General Mills’ baking business. Sales of Betty Crocker baking mixes, a classic General Mills offering, have been in the dumps for over two years. Another major part of the General Mills baking business, its Pillsbury refrigerated dough line, has experienced weakness, too. Indeed, the...
Despite the Cloud, Supercomputer Demand Strong
Seattle — For PGS, an oil-imaging company in Oslo, Norway, finding pockets of oil and natural gas in the ground essentially starts by taking a large ultrasound picture of Earth. “It involves huge amounts of data,” said Guillaume Cambois, PGS’ executive vice president of imaging and engineering. “And, of course, time is of the essence.” PGS, short for Petroleum Geo-Services, this year tried to speed up that work by buying a...
