Kings Food Markets has expanded into Old Greenwich, Connecticut. The New Jersey based Kings Food Markets has done this by acquiring a family run business known as Porricelli’s Market. Porricelli’s Market is a 63-year-old store that was sold after serving the Old Greenwich community for three generations. Kings Food Markets has promised to give the residents the same personal service they had received from the previous owners. Kings Food Markets has been on a campaign to rebrand and reopen some of its stores, which will continue this year and is expected to spill over to 2013.

Also making grocery industry news is Springfield, Massachusetts based Big Y Market. Big Y Market is all ready to open the Big Y World Class Market on August 23 in Franklin, Massachusetts, which will feature the latest in green technology. The store has 902 solar panels to meet its power needs and two auto charging stations to recharge electric cars. That’s not all, the store also has an eat-in café with free Wi-Fi, and charging outlets for phones, a flower department, an international food court and supervised play area for the children.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) is going to hold its annual executive conference in Colorado Springs during the weekend. The Grocery Manufacturers Association will be discussing issues that affect the grocery industry players and one of the burning issues is California’s Proposition 37 that has put forward a recommendation that manufacturers be required to indicate on packages whether the food or product contains genetically modified organisms (GMO’s). This proposal has elicited a lot of debate from all sections and GMA’s actions during the talks. This will most likely draw more reactions from supporters and opponents alike.