By Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) – Kroger Co (KR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the biggest U.S. supermarket chain, posted slightly higher-than-expected quarterly results and outperformed rivals Safeway Inc (SWY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Supervalu Inc (SVU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) at a time when higher food and fuel prices are weighing on sales volumes.

Shares of the operator of Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Smith’s, Food 4 Less and other grocery stores were up more than 3 percent in morning trading.

LOS ANGELES/MUMBAI (Reuters) – Rati Motwani of Mumbai treats her 7-year-old daughter to a fast-food fix almost every weekend.

Motwani, who lives in a nation where most people still eat home-cooked meals and where lentils and rice are staples, says Western chains increasingly are gaining a following and changing old dining habits.

LOS ANGELES/MUMBAI (Reuters) – Rati Motwani of Mumbai treats her 7-year-old daughter to a fast-food fix almost every weekend.

Motwani, who lives in a nation where most people still eat home-cooked meals and where lentils and rice are staples, says Western chains increasingly are gaining a following and changing old dining habits.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Christopher Plummer won his first Oscar on Sunday for his supporting role in “Beginners,” in which he plays an elderly man who comes out of the closet and embraces his gay identity.

Plummer, 82, a veteran screen and stage star best known as Captain von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” became the oldest person to receive an Oscar in the history of the Academy Awards. That title had previously been held by “Driving Miss Daisy” star Jessica Tandy, who won an Oscar at the age of 80.

Feb 23 (Reuters) – Darden Restaurants Inc
forecast quarterly profit above Wall Street expectations and
said its Olive Garden chain, which contributes almost half of
company revenue, would reverse more than a year of
same-restaurant sales declines.

The Orlando-based company, which also operates the Red
Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse chains, said mild winter weather
and an earlier Lenten season buoyed results for its fiscal third
quarter that ends Feb. 26.

By Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) – Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins parent Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc (DNKN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on strong U.S. results, but its shares fell 2.3 percent after it issued a seemingly conservative full-year profit forecast.

Dunkin’ Brands shares, which are up more than 50 percent from their July 2011 debut, were off 66 cents to $28.35 in morning trading.

By Lisa Baertlein

(Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp reported a better-than-expected rise in January sales at established restaurants across the globe, as strength in the United States helped offset the slowing pace of sales gains in Europe.

Investors largely shook off the decelerating sales from Europe, where debt woes and demand-denting austerity measures have dented results of some other large U.S. companies.

Feb 7 (Reuters) – KFC parent Yum Brands Inc
plans to raise prices in China in 2012 to help offset higher
food and labor costs and boost profitability in its most
important market, Chief Financial Officer Rick Carucci said on
Tuesday.

The move would come on top of price increases in China in
2011. Those increases helped the company post an unexpectedly
strong 21 percent gain in same-restaurant sales in the fourth
quarter.

Feb 6 (Reuters) – KFC parent Yum Brands Inc
reported fourth-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s view
after accelerating sales and operating profit at established
restaurants in China helped ease worries that growth in its top
market was slowing.

The shares in the fast-food chain, which are up more than 25
percent from a year ago and trading around all-time highs, rose
3 percent to $65.10 in extended trading after Yum also reported
better-than-expected restaurant sales growth in up-and-coming
international markets.

LOS ANGELES, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Stung by election-year
criticism of a program used by one in seven Americans,
administrators of U.S. food stamp benefits are intensifying
efforts to combat fraud and protect the $75.3 billion plan from
the budget axe.

Enrollment in the food aid program that helps the poor,
elderly and disabled is running at record high levels, with 46.1
million people now participating.