Grocery chain consolidation continues: ALDI has announced today it is acquiring Southeastern stores Winn-Dixie and Harveys from Southeastern Grocers (SEG). 

ALDI, a German-owned private supermarket company that owns a variety of stores internationally, will acquire all outstanding SEG stock in an all-cash transaction that will include 400 stores in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. The retailer is expected to convert some stores to the ALDI banner, while continuing to operate others under the Winn-Dixie and Harveys names. 

Concurrently, SEG also announced it is selling its 28 Fresco y Mas stores and four pharmacies to investor-backed Fresco Retail Group. 

In 2022, ALDI executives said they planned to open 150 new stores in the U.S., a move that would make it the third-largest grocery retailer by store count by the end of the year. Overall, the company has added more than 1,000 stores since 2011. The transaction, which is expected to close in early 2024, is part of a larger push by ALDI to expand its reach into the Southeast. It entered the region in the mid 1990’s, with its first Louisiana-based store opening in 2022. 

Earlier this year ALDI opened its 26th regional headquarters and a 564,000-square-foot distribution center in Loxley, Alabama. At the time, the retailer pledged to open another 20 new ALDI locations in the Southeast by the end of 2023. Ultimately, the company said, the distribution center could service roughly 100 stores across the Gulf Coast. 

The deal represents further consolidation in the grocery industry. Last Fall Kroger and Albertsons announced their intention to merge, however that transaction is still in the process of achieving regulatory approval. 

This story will continue to be updated on NOSH.

Sweetgreen is diving deeper into CPG through a new collaboration with Mexican-American food brand Siete that will see Sweetgreen “expand beyond the bowl” with new sides. 

• Siete’s Green Goddess Ranch Potato Chips with a Hint of Poblano will be exclusive to Sweetgreen at an SRP of $2.50 per 1.5 oz. bag. Additionally, the chain is now offering Siete’s Sea Salt Kettle Cooked Chips. 
• Earlier this year, Sweetgreen co-founder Nicolas Jammet told NOSH that the restaurant is focused on expanding its supply chain by working with like-minded growers and food partners. Now that the company is adding desserts and snacks, he said, “It’s important for [Sweetgreen] to carry that same mentality to those partners and just have some fun with it.” 
• Siete has also been seeking to further penetrate the snack space, particularly in the chip category. After launching tortilla chips, In 2021 the brand debuted a line of kettle-cooked potato chips, available in Sea Salt & Vinegar, Chipotle BBQ, Fuego, Chili Lime and Sea Salt varieties. Last September, the brand teamed up with Austin-based taqueria Nixta to launch a limited time offering: Heirloom Corn Totopos. The company also released a line of puffs earlier this year. 
• Last week Siete announced two new product lines: Taqueria-Style Salsas and Casera-Style Salsas. The latter, offered in Mild Salsa Roja and Spicy Salsa Roja varieties, are designed to top everything from tacos to nachos to avocado toast.

Simulate, the maker of Nuggs, has hatched a new product line. After teasing the release for nearly a year, the alt-meat maker has finally launched its faux-chicken breast product (aptly named Simulate Chicken Breast). Launching in 2019 with its Nuggs line of chicken nuggets (creative naming at work, again) Simulate later expanded into tenders and patties, with the breasts representing its first expansion beyond breaded items. 

The fake “whole meat” chicken cut was made available at select NYC grocers in July; this month, the company added it to its ecommerce platform. Currently the product is sold out, with the company maintaining a waitlist. With the debut comes a change in the company’s marketing and positioning to emphasize the convenience factor of its products. Founder Ben Pasternak recently told The Verge that the category “is kind of in some trouble,” adding that the health and environmental claims for plant-based alternatives are valid, they aren’t enough to compel consumers to forget the common man’s chicken and pick up his extruded soy meat. 

And so, say hello to the slab of fake chicken you can cook in a microwave in under a minute.

More than one year since they began, the #UtahCookieWars are still as hot as a freshly baked cookie. On Monday, a federal judge shot down specialty cookie brand Crumbl’s request to prevent competitor Dirty Dough from opening new storefronts in the Beehive State, adding that company also can’t force the rival to admit to stealing intellectual property. 

• The battle began on July 21, 2022, when Crumbl founder and CEO Jason McGowan announced in a LinkedIn post that his company had filed lawsuits against competitors Dirty Dough and Crave Cookies, alleging both defendants had copied its processes, trademarks and trade dress.
• In the suit Crumbl claimed that its former employee Bradley Maxwell (the brother of Dirty Dough co-founder Bennet Maxwell) stole 66 secret recipes before leaving the company. 
• In response to the suit, Dirty Dough put up billboards in Utah with phrases such as, “Cookies So Good We’re Being Sued” and “Our Cookies Don’t Crumble with Competition.” 
• In Monday’s court order, U.S. District Judge Howard C. Nielsen denied Crumbl’s request for a preliminary injunction, stating that barring Dirty Dough from expanding in the market while the original suit is making its way through the courts would be “profoundly anti-competitive.” 
• While Crumbl can’t force executives to fess up just yet, Nielsen also said that he expects the company will ultimately be successful in proving Dirty Dough did in fact abscond with trade secrets. 

Get up to speed on how the cookie showdown got started. 

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