Roundup: No Pepsi at McDonald's, More Food at Target, Better 7-Eleven Coffee, and More

(MoneyWatch)  Pepsi fails McDonald's audition -- After two years experimenting with selling PepsiCo products in addition to Coca-Cola products, McDonald's has decided to stick with Coca-Cola exclusively. The burger chain was testing Pepsi's non-fountain drinks such as Gatorade and bottled Mountain Dew. McDonald's will continue to test bottled drink options like teas and sports drinks, but only those produced by the Coca-Cola Company. The two companies have a fifty-year relationship and McDonald's is Coca-Cola's biggest customer. [Source: AP]

Target to focus on food -- Target has announced it will be increasing its food offerings in an attempt to boost traffic. It will also be investing more in its private label brand and trying to change customer impressions about its prices. But as the strategy resembles what competitors like Wal-Mart have been doing for years, the move might be too little, too late. [Sources: Food Business News, Daily Bread]

7-Eleven tosses hat in coffee ring -- The convenience store chain rolled out Brazilian Bold this week, a stronger, higher-quality coffee designed to appeal to "young java-drinkers" looking for cheaper options. But so far, 7-Eleven is not following McDonald's into the latte market. [Source: QSR]

Renewed COOL challenge possible -- The Canadian Cattlemen's Association is calling for a renewed challenge to U.S. country-of-origin labeling regulations (COOL) after Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack called upon industry to follow voluntary guidelines stricter than the rules set up by the Bush Administration. Canada previously launched a complaint with the World Trade Organization, saying the rules made it too expensive and complicated for U.S. companies to import Canadian meat and livestock, but just days before leaving office, the Bush Administration agreed to relax the rules, and Canada suspended the complaint. Vilsack isn't changing the rules yet, but he said he may if companies don't voluntarily follow stricter standards, which critics say is just as good as implementing the standards officially. [Source: Grainews]

New ad campaign for Organic Institute -- The Organic Trade Association is sponsoring the new marketing and education initiative, which is based on the simple message "Organic. It's worth it." In particular, the institute will target new mothers, who are "the primary gateways to organic." [Source: Organic Trade Association]