A survey by the research firm Ipsos shows Whole Foods Market, Costco and Trader Joe's ranked as the top three retailers for pandemic health and safety measures. The Ipsos Consumer Health & Safety Index, which included a poll of 2,000 shoppers and mystery shoppers from the firm visiting various stores, examined customer perceptions and observed compliance with such safety measures as social distancing, plexiglass checkout barriers and touchless payment options.

Southeastern Grocers will sell 62 Bi-Lo and Harveys Supermarket stores to Ahold Delhaize USA's Food Lion grocery chain in a deal that also includes a South Carolina distribution center. The financial details of the transaction weren't released, but plans call for the sale -- which includes 46 Bi-Lo and 16 Harveys sites in three states -- to be finalized during the first half of 2021, a move that will allow Southeastern Grocers to start phasing out the Bi-Lo banner.

Higher demand for healthy food had been driving increased frozen food sales prior to the pandemic, and the outbreak has only boosted that trend as many shoppers also started looking for convenient options from the freezer case to cope with stay-at-home orders. According to Acosta's Colin Stewart, frozen foods are outpacing total growth in stores, with meat, breakfast and seafood among the fastest-growing categories.

Prices for solar and wind energy have dropped at least 29% since 2010, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency. "We see increasing demand for renewables among consumers and that is both driving innovation among providers and support among policymakers," says Robert Dillon of the Energy Choice Coalition.

H.E. Butt Grocery has created a $1 million fund to help address racial issues in the wake of George Floyd's death and the protests it has sparked around the nation. Saying "[r]eal change is rooted in action," H-E-B President Craig Boyan added that the fund, which also includes an online donation campaign, would "advance this conversation and address racial inequities and injustice in our communities."

The booming growth of local e-commerce grocery options, given a huge boost during the pandemic, will continue to be an integral part of shoppers' lives even after the outbreak abates, said Nick Nickitas, CEO of the online grocery app Rosie. In this interview, Nickitas said he believes "people will continue to take advantage of the digital tools and they're going to blend it seamlessly into their lives."

From the coronavirus pandemic to the nationwide protests, the first half of 2020 has presented unprecedented challenges for the nation's grocers. A new crisis management survey by Edgewood Consulting Group found that while retailers say they were initially caught unprepared in both cases, they have learned key lessons and are proactively stepping up their crisis response preparations for the future.

SmartAC has rolled out a system that enables owners to evaluate the efficiency of their heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, along with a service that allows technicians to monitor the data and send out alerts. The system works by collecting data from sensors attached to the HVAC and sending it to a central hub for evaluation.

Samsung is advising Android users not to download particular lakeside images for their wallpaper after devices were reported to be crashing. The company says it is close to issuing a patch.

Racism is a real and widespread issue in the US, and the first step to overcoming the problem is acknowledging it exists, writes Eli Lilly & Co.'s Michael O'Connor. "We cannot move forward until we all admit that racism, race baiting and prejudice are so indelibly built into our American way of life, and that nearly every institution in our nation has a foundation built in racism," he writes.