• In Chicago, WBBM News reports that "it appears there’ll be no interruption in warehouse deliveries to Jewel Food Stores in the Chicago area, as a strike has been apparently been avoided.
"The union representing Jewel-Osco warehouse workers and drivers reached an agreement on a new contract with the grocery chain late Sunday night, minutes before a strike that could have disrupted deliveries across the Chicago area … The old contract expired over the weekend, and according to one union official, the situation was not looking good, as the 850 members of Teamsters Local 710 were about 15 minutes away from going on strike when things got serious at the bargaining table."
• Reuters reports that UK supermarket chain Tesco has "committed to increase its sales of healthy food to 65% of total sales by 2025 following pressure from some shareholders to set targets.
"Some investors have been calling for Tesco, which has 27% of the UK’s grocery market, to sell more healthy food, saying it was lagging rivals in its efforts to encourage healthy eating and combat obesity in the country … Tesco said on Friday its 65% healthy products sales target would represent a jump from the current level of 58% and it would use the government’s nutrient profiling model to define those products.
"It said it would report its progress against the targets annually, and also laid out plans to increase sales of plant-based meat alternatives by 300% by 2025 and make products like ready meals healthier through changing the ingredients to include more vegetables."
• CNN reports that "Unilever, the owner of Dove, Vaseline and Axe, is dumping the word 'normal.'
"The consumer goods giant announced Tuesday that it would no longer use the term to describe certain physical characteristics on its packaging for beauty and personal care products, which include Rexona deodorants and Sunsilk shampoos.
"The company says the move 'comes as global research into people's experiences of the beauty industry reveals that using 'normal' to describe hair or skin makes most people feel excluded'."
• Nestlé said yesterday that it is acquiring premium water brand Essentia Water, just two weeks after it sold its North American bottled water business - which included the Poland Spring and Deer Park brands - to private-equity firms One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co. for $4.3 billion.
Terms of the Essentia deal were not disclosed.
