Kroger and Ocado plan to build a new 350,000-square-foot Customer Fulfillment Center in Frederick, Md. The automated center will take about two years to complete, and will focus on markets in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Publix Super Markets is joining Instacart to launch a new service called Instacart Meals, which will allow shoppers to order prepared foods -- such as Publix's sub sandwiches -- for either delivery or in-store pickup. The service will be tested in Orlando, Fla., with plans to expand it to other stores later this year.

New York City-based grocer Fairway Market filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, hours after saying it had no plans to liquidate the entire company in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Operator Village Super Market has made an initial bid of around $70 million for five Fairway stores and a distribution center.

Roughly 96,000 gallons, or about 500,000 bottles worth of cabernet sauvignon from Rodney Strong Vineyards spilled into the Russian River Wednesday in Healdsburg in Sonoma County, Calif. The cause of the spill was a blending tank door that had somehow popped open, according to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

The artisanal mezcal business is undergoing a boom, a decade after the tipple was deemed "the next big thing," Eric Asimov writes. The best ones are rustic and singular in taste rather than refined, such as the Rezpiral Abel Martinez Series Four, offering flavors that are "briny, deep and complex with a pronounced saline quality," he writes.

The Agriculture Department has debuted a new strawberry cultivar called Keepsake that was developed at its Agricultural Research Service as part of a project to innovate varieties with longer shelf lives. A two-week test in cold storage revealed that 29% of the berries were degraded, compared to 81% for Chandlers and 93% for Camarosas.

Foods that bring back childhood memories for consumers and continuing focus on wellness, healthy eating and sustainability are among the top food trends for this year, according to a Kroger survey that polled chefs, food experts and product developers. Kroger is also launching "Noshtalgia," a new podcast hosted by cookbook author Danielle Kartes and aimed at enhancing Kroger's "Fresh for Everyone" messaging.

A new study says 23% more US consumers are making sustainable food choices a priority compared with a year ago, with many saying health benefits are the main driver. The report was compiled by food intelligence startup Tastewise, and went on to say that "although consumers are increasingly concerned about waste generally, they are still apathetic about the wastefulness of the animal agriculture industry -- a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, water contamination, deforestation and a host of other environmental calamities."

Storms, floods and bouts of intense heat were the primary drivers of a 12% drop in Italian wine production in 2019, reports Istat, Italy's national statistics firm. Last year Italy experienced 60% more instances of extreme weather versus the previous year, such as heavy rain, hail and tornadoes, and it was the fourth-warmest year on record since 1800, according to the country's Coldiretti agriculture group.

Idaho lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow winemakers there to store excess wine in the state rather than in a neighboring state, a move supporters say would save vintners money. State law prohibits vintners from storing wine they produce but have no room for in Idaho.