Food and Beverage
How to Make Higher-Quality Choices at the Grocery Store
Last Updated on July 24, 2024 by Daily News Staff
(Family Features) Grocery shopping can be stressful when there are so many options, especially if you’re making a conscious effort to make high-quality food choices while you shop. Arming yourself with a plan and plenty of information can help you make smarter choices and feel good about the meals you prepare for your family.
According to the Food Marketing Institute’s Power of Meat Report, 62% of consumers are looking for better-for-you meat and poultry options. Consider these ways you can pick up higher-quality products on your next trip to the grocery store.
Make a list and stick to it. Going shopping without a plan is a surefire way to make the trip to the grocery store less productive. Creating a list and identifying high-quality products that fit your needs can help you avoid impulse purchases. Plus, list-making can also help save money if you plan meals that let you use ingredients across multiple recipes for minimal waste.
Pay attention to labels. Food labels contain insightful details that can help you make well-informed decisions about the foods you buy. Especially when it comes to fresh products, like protein, you can learn a lot about how the food was raised, simply from its label. For example, Perdue’s “No Antibiotics Ever” label is the gold standard when it comes to reducing antibiotic use in chicken farming, compared to the “no hormones or steroids” label, which shows adherence solely to federal regulations.
“You can feel good about purchasing our products labeled No Antibiotics Ever knowing they were raised and fed in such a way that no antibiotics were ever needed,” said Dr. Bruce Stewart-Brown, senior vice president of technical services and innovation at Perdue Farms. “In order to achieve No Antibiotics Ever raised chickens, we worked hard to change our feed and care approach over the last 20 years.”
Know how to select fresh foods. If you find yourself overwhelmed when it comes to selecting produce and fresh meat, you’re not alone. When choosing fruits and vegetables, you generally want produce with a consistent color that is firm but not hard to the touch. Many fresh fruits and veggies emit an appealing fragrance at their peak ripeness.
When it comes to meat and poultry products, you can use a similar approach. For example, if you’re shopping for chicken, press down on the chicken in the package. If it’s plump and somewhat resilient, reverting to its shape, it’s a fresher pack. Also be wary of excess liquid in the pack, which can dilute the flavor or contribute to a soggy texture. You may also wonder which cuts are best. For a formal family meal, consider cooking a whole bird, which offers white and dark meat to please all appetites and can serve as a beautiful mealtime centerpiece.
Take some shortcuts. Even if you aim to prepare fresh, home-cooked meals most nights, there are sure to be some evenings when you need to squeeze in a quick meal around work, school and extracurriculars. Having a few simple go-to recipes can help. For example, an easy stir-fry with fresh chicken and frozen veggies can shave off prep time while still providing a hot, well-balanced meal. If you’re meal prepping for the week, marinate pre-cut chicken thighs or legs in different spices and seasonings to make cooking throughout the week simpler. Or try an option like Perdue’s Short Cuts, which include a variety of ready-to-eat, roasted, perfectly seasoned chicken breast strips.
Shop the store’s perimeter last. In most stores, fresh foods are located in refrigerated sections around the perimeter of the store. This is where you’ll find produce, fresh meat, poultry and dairy, giving you most of the essential ingredients for wholesome, well-balanced meals. Saving this section of the store for your last stop can help ensure perishable items spend less time away from refrigeration before you check out.
Find chicken recipes and poultry shopping tips at perdue.com.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images
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Perdue Farms
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Food and Beverage
Ferrero Survey Says Adults Are Reclaiming Easter Candy Traditions
A new Ferrero survey finds adults are embracing Easter candy traditions, from building their own baskets to buying premium treats and raiding the kids’ stash.
Easter Is for Adults Now, Too
Ferrero’s latest survey suggests the holiday candy aisle is no longer just about kids. It is also about nostalgia, self-indulgence, and adults openly claiming a place in traditions they were once expected to outgrow.
At some point, adults stopped pretending they were only buying Easter candy for the kids.
Ferrero North America’s latest Easter Candy Survey leans hard into that reality, arguing that the “Adultoween” energy the company has been tracking around Halloween has now fully crossed into spring. According to the survey, 66% of North American adults say they deserve an Easter basket just as much as children do. If that sounds less like a shocking revelation and more like a formal acknowledgment of what has already been happening in grocery store checkout lines for years, that is probably because it is.
The bigger story here is not just that adults like candy. Of course they do. It is that brands are becoming much more comfortable marketing nostalgia, ritual, and seasonal indulgence directly to grown-ups. Easter, once framed mostly as a family holiday centered on children, is increasingly being recast as a shared cultural event where adults are not just participating politely. They are fully in it.
The Easter Bunny Has Entered the Group Chat
Ferrero’s survey of 1,000 adults in the United States and Canada paints a picture of Easter as a holiday that now comes with brunch plans, premium baskets, personal candy stashes, and a surprising amount of competitive behavior. Seventy percent of respondents said Easter is the best time of year for both adults and kids to indulge in candy together. Nearly half said they are likely to host or attend an adult Easter brunch, party, or gathering.
Then there are the confessions, which are really the heart of the whole thing. More than one in three adults said they have eaten their children’s Easter candy without telling them. More than one in four said they have competed with their own kids to find Easter eggs first. Eighteen percent admitted to cheating to win.
None of this is exactly noble, but it is revealing. The modern holiday experience is less about adults facilitating magic from the sidelines and more about everyone wanting in on the fun. Ferrero is smart to recognize that. Seasonal candy marketing has traditionally leaned on childhood wonder. What it is leaning on now is something slightly different: the idea that adulthood is stressful, nostalgia sells, and nobody really wants to age out of joy.
Candy as Culture, Not Just Confection
The survey also suggests that adults are not treating Easter candy as an afterthought. More than half of respondents said they would pay extra for a premium Easter basket, spending an average of $23 on a chocolate bunny or specialty treat. Dark chocolate, peanut butter candy, and chocolate eggs topped the wish lists. More than half also said Easter candy tastes better than Halloween candy, which feels like the kind of claim that could start arguments at a family gathering.
What matters more than the specific rankings, though, is what they signal. Holidays are increasingly being marketed as lifestyle moments rather than fixed traditions. The basket is no longer just for children. It is a seasonal self-care package, a joke, a nostalgic ritual, and a low-stakes luxury purchase all at once.
That shift says something broader about consumer culture. Adults are being invited to reclaim the symbols of childhood not because society has become less serious, but because modern life often feels serious all the time. A chocolate bunny is cheap therapy. A private stash of mini eggs is a coping mechanism with pastel packaging.
Why This Trend Matters
It would be easy to dismiss all of this as clever branding wrapped around survey data, and to be fair, Ferrero clearly knows how to turn consumer behavior into a seasonal narrative. But the company is tapping into something real. The line between kids’ traditions and adult participation has been softening for a while, whether that shows up in Halloween, themed merchandise, collectibles, or holiday food culture.
Easter now appears to be joining that list. Not because adults suddenly discovered candy in 2026, but because they are increasingly willing to admit that these rituals still mean something to them. Not everything has to be optimized, productive, or age-appropriate in the most boring sense of the phrase. Sometimes people just want the basket.
Ferrero’s Easter lineup this year includes products from Butterfinger, CRUNCH, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, Nutella, Mother’s Cookies, Keebler, and Tic Tac, among others. The survey was conducted by Golin in partnership with Dynata between January 13 and January 27, 2026, among 1,000 respondents in the United States and Canada, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3%.
External Related Links
- Ferrero North America
- Ferrero Rocher Easter Products
- Kinder Easter Candy Collection
- Nutella Products and Brand Information
- PRNewswire Consumer Lifestyle News
Source: Ferrero North America via PRNewswire
The Food and Drink section at STM Daily News delivers fresh coverage on dining, drinks, recipes, and the food stories bringing communities together.
Last Updated on April 4, 2026 by Daily News Staff
(Feature Impact) When your kitchen is full of colorful eggs, candy baskets, tempting sweets and all that comes with Easter, sometimes a holiday classic is just the answer for simplifying the season. Perfect for pairing with deviled eggs, potato salad and a traditional Sunday feast, this Maple-Glazed Easter Ham provides a hands-off approach to the main dish.
With an easily prepared glaze and your oven doing most of the work, you can keep your attention on time spent with loved ones. Visit Culinary.net to find more seasonal favorites, both classic and contemporary.
Maple-Glazed Easter Ham
Recipe adapted from Southern Living
Total time: 3 hours
Servings: 10
- 1 bone-in spiral-cut ham (8-9 pounds)
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) bourbon
- 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- orange slices and wedges, for garnish
- fresh rosemary sprigs, for garnish
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Place ham in large roasting pan and fill with 1/2 inch of water. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake about 2 hours, basting every 30 minutes with juices from pan, until meat registers 120 F at thickest portion.
- In medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stir maple syrup, brown sugar, bourbon, ginger and cinnamon; bring to boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 6-8 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover to keep warm and set aside.
- Remove ham from oven and discard foil. Increase oven temperature to 400 F. Using pastry brush, glaze ham with 1/3 cup maple-bourbon mixture.
- Bake ham about 30 minutes until top is lightly caramelized and meat registers 145 F at thickest portion, brushing with remaining glaze every 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and transfer ham to serving platter. Let rest 15 minutes and garnish with orange slices, orange wedges and rosemary sprigs.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
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Visit our Food & Drink section to get the latest on Foodie News and recipes, offering a delightful blend of culinary inspiration and gastronomic trends to elevate your dining experience. https://stmdailynews.com/food-and-drink/
If you needed a reason to celebrate your favorite wrapped meal, here it is.
National Burrito Day is observed every year on the first Thursday of April—a moving food holiday that always lands just in time to kick off spring cravings.
In 2026, National Burrito Day fell on April 2, giving burrito lovers across the U.S. the perfect midweek excuse to indulge.
A Quick Bite of History
While the burrito itself has deep roots in Mexican cuisine, the modern celebration of National Burrito Day is largely driven by restaurants and food brands that turned it into an annual event—complete with deals, giveaways, and social media buzz.
Today, it’s widely embraced by chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba Mexican Eats, along with local taquerías that join in the celebration.
Why It Matters (Beyond the Food)
National Burrito Day is more than just a marketing holiday—it reflects how a simple, portable dish became a staple of American food culture.
From classic bean-and-cheese to fully loaded carne asada burritos, the options are endless—and so are the reasons to celebrate.
External Related Reading
- National Day Calendar: National Burrito Day
- Smithsonian Magazine: A Brief History of the Burrito
- Chipotle Mexican Grill – Official Website
- Qdoba Mexican Eats – Official Website
