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R e s t a u r a n t D a i l y N e w s 8 3 M o n d a y, M a y 1 8 , 2 0 1 5 NEW STEW LEONARD'S STORE ANNOUNCED FOR EARLY 2016 Farm fresh food grocer Stew Leonard's announced that Farmingdale, New York, will be home to the company's fifth store and first grocery store location on Long Island. The new grocery store will be located in Kimco Realty Corp.'s Airport Plaza shopping center, across from the successful Stew Leonard's Wines of Farmingdale store. Nicknamed the "Disneyland of Dairy Stores" by The New York Times, Stew Leonard's was founded in 1969 and has three Connecticut locations, as well as one in Yonkers, New York. The com- pany has received worldwide acclaim for excellence in customer service, and was included for 10 consecutive years on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for" list. "We are thrilled to finally be building a Stew Leonard's in Farmingdale," said Stew Leonard, Jr. "This has been a dream of our family's for more than 10 years now, and we know we'll be welcomed with open arms by all of our friends in Farmingdale and throughout Long Island." "I like to think of Stew Leonard's as a 'super farmer's market' - a cross between a traditional supermarket and a farmer's market," said Leonard. The company emphasizes local farms and suppliers, a "from scratch" bakery, fresh mozzarella making station, and a cut-to-order meat department. Most notable is an in-house kitchen, where 50 chefs prepare a variety of hot foods for their buffet bar as well as refrigerated meals to go. Preparing these foods daily in each store guarantees cus- tomers the highest quality and freshest foods possible, according to the company. The 60,000-square-foot store will officially open in early 2016. Each Stew Leonard's store carries only 2,200 items, chosen specifically for their freshness, quality and value; compared to an aver- age of 30,000-60,000 at traditional gro- cery stores. For more information, visit www.stewleonards. CUSTOMERS PRAISE GLUTEN-FREE SCONE MIXES FROM STICKY FINGERS BAKERIES You may not be able to eat gluten, but you can still enjoy scones with gluten- free scone mixes from Sticky Fingers Bakeries. "Gluten-free shouldn't mean taste- free, especially when it comes to baked goods," says Tom Owens, co-founder of Sticky Fingers Bakeries with Ted Vogelman. The company that started as a retail bakery in San Diego in 1987 now offers an extensive selection of all-natural English scones mixes, as well as muffin mixes, Irish soda bread mix, brownie mixes and premium fruit spreads, butters and curds. Given the increasing cus- tomer demand, going gluten-free was a natural next step for Sticky Fingers Bakeries. The company's new line of scones is available in original, apple oat, Meyer lemon and blueberry. Whether it is tart bits of real Meyer Lemon or a sweet bite of spiced apple, the high-quality ingredients complement the light and crumbly texture of these make-at- home treats. Sticky Fingers Bakeries' gluten-free mixes are certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization and produced in dedicated gluten-free facilities according to GFCO standards. They are also preserva- tive-free and contain no artificial colors, flavors, trans fats or saturated fats. "Many people say they can't tell these scones are gluten-free," Owens says. "We take that as a compliment, because while we want these scones to fit with our customers' gluten-free diets, we also want anyone who eats them to think they're delicious." HEIFER AWARDED $750,000 FROM STARBUCKS FOUNDATION TO SUPPORT COFFEE FARMERS IN TANZANIA Heifer International was awarded a Starbucks Foundation grant of $750,000 to help fund the Mbozi Farmer Livelihood Improvement Project in Tanzania, which will help improve liveli- hoods and quality of life for smallholder coffee growing communities in the East African country. This grant is part of Starbucks com- prehensive approach to ethical sourcing. To date, Starbucks has contributed $15 million in social projects to support farm- ing communities around the world. The project will be part of our East Africa Dairy Development Project in Tanzania and will assist at least 5,000 smallholder coffee farmers and their families. Heifer and Starbucks have collabo- rated in the past. In 2009, after CEO Howard Schultz visited smallholder cof- fee farmers in Rwanda, he heard the heartfelt requests from farmers that, if they had cows, they would have milk, better nutrition and income for their fam- ilies. Starbucks employees rallied togeth- er to provide the cows these farmers wanted so desperately. As much as 90 percent of the popu- lation in the Mbozi District is engaged in coffee farming. As global coffee prices fluctuate, farmers often experience a sig- nificant need for income throughout the year that coffee production alone cannot meet. This project will provide some fami- lies with dairy heifers and bulls so that farmers can engage in dairy farming as a complementary activity that provides a diversified source of income for coffee farmers and evens out their year-round cash needs. Other families who already own cows will receive training on proper dairy management and cattle husbandry techniques to better position them for prof- itable enterprises, and the creation of a milk collection center will give larger dairy processors easier access to farmers' milk. "Adding dairy farming will ensure coffee farmers have a steady flow of income to reinvest into their coffee farms," said Heifer's President and Chief Executive Pierre Ferrari. "By introducing higher and steadier income levels from dairy, coffee farmers will actually have increased capital to invest in physical inputs and new technology to increase coffee production." The project also will increase access to water and improve sanitation, as well as increase use of alternative sources of renewable energy. In 2014, the Starbucks Foundation granted more than $3.7 million to multi- ple organizations who help address rele- vant needs in specific communities. Each investment is targeted to create a sus- tained impact in a local community developing the necessary infrastructure to help support systemic, long term change. Over the past 40 years, Starbucks has been dedicated to helping improve the lives of farmers and their families around the world who grow their coffee. Through a comprehensive approach to ethical sourcing Starbucks is paying equitable prices, providing access to farmer loans and technical assistance in order to help farmers to navigate the complexities of agriculture – a long-term process. In total, Starbucks has invested more than $70 million in collaborative farmer programs and activities over the past 40 years. In 2015, Starbucks achieved the goal of 99 percent of its cof- fee being verified as ethically sourced. Additional details about Starbucks initiatives in coffee and tea communities are available at www.starbucks.com/ responsibility/sourcing SMITHFIELD FOODS ANNOUNCES NEW STRUCTURE, APPOINTMENTS Smithfield Foods Inc. announced a realignment of its organization and key senior management appointments that unify all of its independent operating companies, brands, marketing, and more than 48,000 employees around the world under one corporate umbrel- la to accelerate the company's growth and further its mission of providing "Good food. Responsibly." Smithfield's business operations will now be organized in alignment with the company's customers and managed as four divisions – Packaged Meats, Fresh Pork, Hog Production and International. "We are thrilled to launch this new structure that better supports our peo- ple, brands and customers while posi- tioning Smithfield to take advantage of opportunities for growth," said C. Larry Pope, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Moving to a cen- tralized structure and bringing our resources and brands together into these four operating divisions enables us to best utilize management talent across the company and maintain our commitment to serving our customers as we always have, while more effec- tively providing our full array of prod- ucts. Further, we are excited about the potential to leverage marketing pro- grams and sponsorships, such as our involvement in NASCAR, across all of our brands." Following the realignment, the Packaged Meats Division will include all of the company's packaged meats busi- ness previously operated under Smithfield Farmland and John Morrell Food Group within a single, cohesive division. The company's Fresh Pork divi- sion will encompass the former Smithfield Farmland fresh pork opera- tions, and the company's hog production and international businesses will retain their existing structure and leadership while operating under the new divisional structure. In connection with the new division- al operating structure and related consol- idation of certain business functions, Smithfield also announced several key senior management appointments. Kenneth M. Sullivan will assume the title of Executive Vice President, in addition to his current role as Smithfield's Chief Financial Officer, and will oversee con- solidated finance, administrative and support services. Joseph B. Sebring has been appointed President, Packaged Meats Division. He most recently served as President of Smithfield's John Morrell Food Group, which he joined in 1994. Scott Saunders has been promoted to President, Fresh Pork Division. Saunders was previously Chief Financial Officer of Smithfield's John Morrell Food Group since 2008. For more information, visit www.smith fieldfoods.com and www.smithfield commitments.com.