Milling & Baking News - April 21, 2020 - 13

Business

Nestle pizza, baking brands
filling 'robust' supply chain
ROSSYLN, VA. - The supply chain
within Nestle's US operations has remained "robust" since the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic, and the Rosslynbased company has been well-equipped
to meet increased demand across all its
categories, said Steve Presley, chairman
and chief executive officer of Nestle USA.
"The increased demand we all saw in
March as consumers really stocked the
pantry and pushed the supply chain hard
put pressure on the supply chain overall,
but we haven't had any major disruptions," Mr. Presley told Fox Business host
Maria Martiromo as part of an April 14 interview during "Mornings with Maria." "I
think this crisis is causing all of us to kind of

The gains also extended to Nestle's
other frozen brands, including Stouffer's.
Asked whether he expects a severe recession, Mr. Presley said it's still too early
learn and lead in a different environment." to draw any concrete conclusions.
"I think clearly a healthy consumer is
Mr. Presley said one trend he has seen
is a shift in consumer buying habits. He healthy for our business, and as we come
out of this I think it's too early to
said the company's Toll House and
know how long the recession
Carnation brands have gathered
will last," he said. "We'll clearly
momentum as consumers seek
come out of this with higher
products that allow them to
unemployment, and there
bake more as families. Another
will be a short-term impact ascategory experiencing strong
sociated with that. I think we
growth: frozen pizza.
need to wait and see how fast
"Clearly on our frozen pizza
the economy rebounds."
businesses - DiGiorno, Jack's,
As a food company that plays a
Tombstone - we've seen inNESTLE
pivotal role regardless of whether the
creased demand, significant increased
demand if you look at March IRI data," Mr. economy is in a recession or not, Nestle's
Presley said, noting that at the peak of pan- focus will remain on serving its customers
through all its brands, Mr. Presley said. MBN
try loading the increase was about 50%.

Panera faces lawsuit over
blueberry bagel description
NEW YORK - A lawsuit has been filed
in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York against
Panera Bread Co. alleging a "deceptive and
fraudulent" labeling of its blueberry bagels.
Panera's blueberry bagels "contain
only trace amounts of real blueberries"
and a "far greater proportion of imitation
blueberry ingredients," according to the
lawsuit, which was filed March 30.
"Even upon purchasing and closely
inspecting the product, a reasonable consumer cannot discern the imitation from
the actual blueberry ingredients," the
lawsuit said, which was filed on behalf

of plaintiffs including "the New York
class" and "all other New York purchasers of the bagel." "Plaintiff alleges that if
he had 'known that the (bagel) in fact contains only trace amounts of blueberries, he
would not have considered it a blueberry
bagel and would not have purchased it, or
would have paid significantly less for it.'"
The plaintiff alleges that the blueberry
bagels contain "blueberry bites" and
"blueberry solids," which are imitation
blueberries, higher up on the ingredient list than "infused dried blueberries,"
which are real blueberries.
The lawsuit states that language by

Panera Bread Co. intended to mislead
consumers "into believing that the bagel's blueberry content consists solely
of real blueberries," when in reality the
bagels contain significantly more imitation blueberries than real blueberries.
According to the plaintiff, a sign above
the blueberry bagels at the Panera where
he purchased the blueberry bagel read,
"Food You Can Trust: We're advocates
for clean food. We're committed to menu
transparency. We're dedicated to having
a positive impact on the food system."
Panera has not responded to a request
to comment on the lawsuit.
The US District Judge assigned to the
case, Vernon S. Broderick, has dismissed the
first amended class action complaint due to
a failure "to allege any further injury." MBN

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Milling
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April 21, 2020 / 13
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Milling & Baking News - April 21, 2020

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