By Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) – Kroger Co (KR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported quarterly profit that topped Wall Street’s view as a lower tax rate, falling costs for fresh produce and pharmacy sales bolstered earnings at the biggest U.S. supermarket chain, which has been outpacing rivals Safeway Inc (SWY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Supervalu Inc. (SVU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)

Shares of Kroger rose as much as 5 percent after the Cincinnati-based operator of Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Smith’s, Food 4 Less and other grocery stores also raised its full-year profit forecast and announced a $1 billion share repurchase plan.

June 12 (Reuters) – Several restaurant stock offerings are
being prepped for the market and experts are betting that
investors will have more of an appetite for specialty regional
chains than for some familiar national hamburger brands.

Companies seeking to sell shares include growth names like
Tex-Mex restaurant owner Chuy’s Holdings, which has been waiting
for the IPO market to pick up steam. Burger King and Carl’s Jr
parent CKE Inc, which are seeking a return to public trading,
are also on the docket.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Tuesday will debut the first products in a line of U.S.-made mugs and other merchandise that will be sold in its roughly 7,000 U.S. cafes to support domestic manufacturing and raise money for its Create Jobs for USA fund.

The move from the world’s biggest coffee chain follows Chief Executive Howard Schultz’s call to fellow executives to step up hiring and take a bigger role in the country’s economic revival.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A new report from a California watchdog group is calling for the U.S. government to disclose how much sugary soda and other unhealthy food is paid for with food stamps at a time when policy makers are searching for ways to contain the spiraling cost of diet-related illness.

It is the latest skirmish in a years-long battle over whether the goal of the federal nutrition-assistance program used by about one in seven Americans should evolve from simply fighting hunger to also encouraging healthier eating habits.

June 8 (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp reported a
lower-than-expected rise in global sales at established
restaurants in May and warned that austerity measures in Europe,
a big source of revenues, and global economic volatility were
taking a bite out of results.

Foreign currency rates and higher costs, due in part to
preparations for the summer Olympics in London, also were
expected to weigh on earnings this quarter, the world’s biggest
hamburger chain said on Friday.

June 7 (Reuters) – U.S. Starbucks Corp stores will
begin selling single-serve K-Cup coffee pods for Green Mountain
Coffee Roasters Inc’s popular Keurig brewers on June
12, the company told Reuters on Thursday.

The move, which comes months earlier than some on Wall
Street had expected, will expand points of sale to most of the
company’s roughly 11,000 U.S. shops and should help boost
results at both Starbucks and Green Mountain.

By Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) – Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday is buying La Boulange bakery owner Bay Bread Group for $100 million in cash in a deal that is its biggest move yet outside coffee and takes direct aim at what long has been seen as the company’s biggest weakness: food.

The world’s biggest coffee chain said its first order of business is to offer La Boulange croissants, pastries, cookies and other food in its own stores over time. It also intends to build the 19-cafe San Francisco Bay Area operator into a national chain.

, June 1 (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc
executives told shareholders they would not stand for
unethical behavior at the world’s largest retailer, whose shares
have soared to 12-year highs as strong results more than offset
concerns about bribery allegations.

Friday’s annual shareholders meeting was the first time that
Chairman Rob Walton, a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton,
publicly addressed the issue of possible bribery in Mexico. Both
he and Chief Executive Mike Duke were named in an April New York
Times report which suggested that Wal-Mart executives knew of
bribes paid to officials in Mexico and squelched an internal
investigation.

, June 1 (Reuters) – Growing concern over
the past actions of Wal-Mart Stores Inc executives and
board members threatens to cast a pall over the world’s largest
retailer’s annual shareholder meeting and 50th anniversary party
on Friday.

Large investors and a scrappy group of employee shareholders
are calling for leaders such as Wal-Mart’s chief executive and
its chairman to be removed from the board of directors for their
alleged connection to a bribery scandal in Mexico.

By Lisa Baertlein

OAK BROOK, Ill. (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp(MCD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) investors soundly rejected a shareholder proposal that would have required the world’s biggest fast-food chain to assess its impact on childhood obesity.

The subject was a major topic of discussion at Thursday’s annual shareholder meeting, which also served as a send-off for retiring Chief Executive Jim Skinner – whose nearly eight years at the helm will be remembered as a time when the price of McDonald’s stock tripled.