The ghosts and goblins are ready to go, and they are in for a treat: Despite the recession, Halloween candy sales are strong.Kids are about to get their hands on 600-million pounds of Halloween candy. That’s how many Smarties, Dots, Snickers, and other sweets will have been purchased this year. Candy sales are up nearly 2-percent this year with people spending about $18 on average. By far the most popular candy purchased is chocolate. Happy Halloween!

Meat-loving consumers in the United States are eating out less, but they are not forgoing taste and quality as researchers have found that more restaurant-quality prime- and choice-grade steaks are being served on family dinner tables. Beginning in 2008, cash-strapped consumers shifted to at-home dining. As a result, with restaurant business on the decline, meat companies are now shipping more of their restaurant fare to grocery stores and consumers are buying it, according to data presented on Thursday at the Worldwide Food Expo. The accompanying sales data showed sales remain strong for lower-priced meats such as ground beef, hot dogs, and chicken drumsticks. But, there was a noticeable increase in sales of higher-priced premium meats. The sales volume of the more expensive “premium” steaks was up 15.5 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, versus a 13.2 percent rise in “regular” steaks, they said.  (more…)

Global consumer confidence is rebounding, and in the United States has risen for the first time since 2007, amid signs the world economy is picking up although spending is still restrained, a survey showed on Wednesday. Confidence was highest in India, followed by Indonesia and Norway, and was weakest in Japan, Latvia, Portugal and South Korea, although in Korea it had improved markedly, according to a quarterly survey by The Nielsen Company, conducted between September 28 and October 16. So put on a happy face.   (more…)

This little story explains alot.  A few years ago, the then-director of research and development for Starbucks, Lawrence Wu Jr., participated in a food-industry conference, where he gave a presentation on the coffee company’s method for determining what new products could be included under the Starbucks brand. It was “important to understand what product is at the core of your consumer’s mind,” he said; for Starbucks, the bull’s-eye on the target was barista-made espresso and fresh, brewed coffee. On the first ring out from the bull’s-eye were all the fancy “personalized beverages,” such as a venti-half-caf-no-foam-skinny-latte. Further from the core were the Frappuccinos and other blender drinks, and further still were the “out of store” products, such as coffee liqueur and ice cream. But finally, Mr. Wu said, you get so far from the core of the business that you’re simply “off the target” altogether, with “products that do not build the value or equity of the brand.” So destructive of the brand were these products that they would only be explored if the revenues from them were “necessary for the survival of the company.” What product did he point to as the canary in the coffee mine? Instant coffee. Mr. Wu called it “a product of last resort.”  (more…)

The Walt Disney Company, with the help of Steven P. Jobs and his retailing team at Apple, intends to drastically overhaul its approach to the shopping mall. At a time when many retailers are still cutting back or approaching strategic shifts with extreme caution, Disney is going the other way, getting more aggressive and putting into motion an expensive and ambitious floor-to-ceiling reboot of its 340 stores in the United States and Europe — as well as opening new ones, including a potential flagship in Times Square. “Dream bigger — that was Steve’s message,” said Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney Consumer Products. The company followed his advice, working for the last year on a full-scale, fully stocked store inside an unmarked warehouse in Glendale, Calif. The prototype was crucial to shaping an overall philosophy, Mr. Fielding said, noting that he discovered the shops needed more “Pixar-esque winks and nods.” To that end, one sales area is now labeled “WWTD: What Would Tinker Bell Do?  (more…)

The religion of Southern fried chicken is spreading fast in New York City, with pilgrims making stops at the Redhead in the East Village, Locanda Verde in TriBeCa and Buttermilk Channel in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. But, does it have to be Southern to be delicious? Absolutely not! “It was a long, arduous month,” said Kevin Pemoulie, chef at Momofuku Noodle Bar, whose dark-meat double-fried pieces, brushed with a spicy Korean-influenced glaze, was one of two winners. “It gave me new insight into the deep fryer.” Mr. Pemoulie said the chefs tried various types of flour, multiple fryings, turning the batter into foam, and adding vodka to it (that idea stuck). The final meal — available by reservation only, a few times daily, at Noodle Bar — is a vast feed that includes Mr. Pemoulie’s chicken and one by Peter Serpico, chef at Momofuku Ko, a relatively traditional American fried chicken with a bit of rice flour in the batter and a big salty shot of Old Bay seasoning. The mountain of chicken is accompanied to the table by four sauces; house-made Chinese-style mu shu pancakes for wrapping; and a bowl of raw vegetables like baby carrots, radishes and fushimi peppers, plus leaves of shiso, basil and mint. After devouring this feast, I couldn’t help thinking other fried chicken outposts would be opening soon. After all, you have to figure we have enough hamburger joints. (more…)

“I DON’T need family-dinner studies to guilt-trip me,” said Shannon Rubio, a mother of three teenage boys from Spring, Tex. “I do it to myself.” But just in case, Mrs. Rubio, here is the latest, from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse(CASA) at Columbia University: Teenagers who eat with their families less than three times a week are more likely to turn to alcohol, tobacco and drugs than those who dine with their families five times a week. Since the first CASA study in 1996, the news media passionately presses the cause; it’s a cornerstone of the slow-parenting movement. A mushrooming industry of cookbooks, advice columns and even takeout foods repackaged as “family dinners” beckon folks to the table. Coca-Cola, Smucker’s and Stouffer’s were among the sponsors for activities for the annual Family Day (Sept. 28 this year), designed to promote family dinners. So it’s not surprising that many parents, especially mothers, who work night shifts or long hours, or who, like Mrs. Rubio, have teenagers running every which way to activities, are painfully aware that nightly dinners ’round the table are something other families get to do.  (more…)

On Wednesday, the Transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, called the broader phenomenon of distracted driving a “deadly epidemic” at a meeting on the issue in Washington. Real estate brokers, pharmaceutical sales people, entrepreneurs, marketers and others say they have little choice but to transform their cars into cubicles. In this merciless economy, they say, they have to make every minute count, and respond instantly to opportunities and challenges.  (more…)