{"id":2012,"date":"2017-12-13T00:52:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T00:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clientnewsfeed.hunterpr.com\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2019-05-28T16:20:50","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T20:20:50","slug":"amazons-acquisition-of-whole-foods-market-ranks-as-2017s-no-1-story-in-fifteenth-annual-food-news-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clientnewsfeed.hunterpr.com\/?p=2012","title":{"rendered":"AMAZON’S ACQUISITION OF WHOLE FOODS MARKET RANKS AS 2017’S NO. 1 STORY IN FIFTEENTH ANNUAL FOOD NEWS STUDY"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Social Media is Top Source for Recipes Among Millennials and Gen Xers<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NEW YORK<\/strong> – “Alexa\u2026acquire Whole Foods Market, please.”<\/p>\n

In a year when food topics related to safety and nutrition were most important to Americans, news of Amazon’s Acquisition of Whole Foods Market <\/b>broke through, <\/b>ranking as 2017’s No. 1 <\/b>food news story among Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers\/Matures alike, according to the Hunter Public Relations Annual Food News Study.<\/p>\n

Since 2003, Hunter Public Relations, a leading food and beverage marketing communications agency, has been commissioning an annual study to identify the top food news stories according to the opinions of Americans. Now in its fifteenth year, this year’s food news study also set out to quantify the impact of these stories at every step of the consumer engagement continuum by measuring the influence on consumers’ awareness (are the stories remembered?), consideration (do they change opinions?), intent (do they change behavior?) and advocacy (are they shared with others?).<\/p>\n

For the past five years, Hunter has conducted the study in partnership with Libran Research & Consulting, which surveyed 1,000 American adults and asked respondents to select the most recalled news stories of the past 12 months. The data is reviewed by key demographics, including the age cohorts of Millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers\/Matures.<\/p>\n

Amazon*, the world’s largest online retailer, made major headlines on June 16, 2017<\/span> when it announced its plans to acquire Whole Foods Market. The e-retail giant, which has dabbled in brick-and-mortar store concepts over the past couple of years, agreed to acquire 460 Whole Foods Market locations in the US, Canada<\/span> and the UK in a 13.7 billion-dollar<\/span> deal, Amazon’s biggest acquisition to date. On August 28, 2017<\/span>, the deal was official and Amazon announced that all Whole Foods Market customers would immediately see lower prices across a selection of best-selling products.<\/p>\n

Last year’s top food news story found itself back on this year’s list, occupying 2017’s No. 2<\/b> spot: Another Food Safety Scare at Chipotle<\/b>. Chipotle’s food safety issues made national news late in 2015 and continued in 2016 when norovirus affected more than 200 customers in the Boston<\/span> area. In 2017, another food-borne illness outbreak affected several Chipotle patrons at an outlet near Washington, D.C.<\/span>, forcing the location to close temporarily and sending the chain’s stock down more than six percent.<\/p>\n

Topics of food safety (48 percent) and food nutrition\/health and wellness (35 percent) continue to be at the top of the list for most Americans. In addition to Chipotle’s food safety scare taking the No. 2 spot, Nearly 2.5 Million Pounds of Tyson Chicken Products Recalled<\/b> \u2013 due to misbranding and undeclared allergens on ready-to-eat breaded chicken sold to food-service customers in 30 states \u2013 came in as the No. 3<\/b> food news story of the year.<\/p>\n

Though according to the study, topics of food policy and politics are not generally as important to Americans as food safety, three politically-motivated stories claimed top spots this year:<\/p>\n