While operators need to closely monitor the avian flu, which has caused the destruction of more than 30 million chickens and turkeys, chicken production is up 3.1 percent compared to last year, says DeWayne Dove, vice president of risk management for SpenDifference. This increase in production, coupled with a decrease in exports, has industry experts forecasting a 6 percent decrease in cost versus a year ago. Eggs, however, are in short supply, with prices up more than 10 percent. Tom Turkey breast is up approximately 10 percent.

Tyson Foods, one of the country's largest meat producers, said that it planned to eliminate the use of human antibiotics in its chicken production by 2017.

Of all the issues the Obama administration is grappling with, a modest redesign of what food labels say about sweeteners might not have seemed among the more controversial. But ever since First Lady Michelle Obama unveiled the plan last year, a lobbying frenzy has ensued.

The Reusable Packaging Association has issued comprehensive protocols to ensure the continued safe use of reusable plastic containers (RPCs) for fresh and perishable products in the supply chain. The guidelines encompass washing, handling, storing, packing, displaying and collecting RPCs. They also include rigorous and defined Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP), and hourly, daily, monthly, and quarterly microbiological testing.

Analyst Insight: The need for speed, along with margin pressures, is causing food and beverage distributors to look for ways to achieve greater efficiencies in the warehouse. The continued growth of the "long tail" that are slow movers combined with a scarcity of available labor and the complexity of route-stop sequencing makes automation a good option. But to justify investments you have to look beyond the labor savings alone. – Frank Jewell, Food and Beverage Industry Leader, Fortna Inc.