A coffee & bagel partnership
Caribou Coffee Co. Inc. announced last week that it will test a co-branding agreement with Bruegger's Bagels at 10 locations, half in the Twin Cities. The coffee and bagel concepts are next door to each other in several locations, but the new agreement would combine some of those neighbors under one roof. Restaurant consultant Bob Goldin from Technomic Inc. endorsed the idea. He told the Star Tribune this week, "Everyone is pushing coffee these days, and this offers Caribou a better bakery and sandwich program."
Shipping Competition
C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., the provider of transportation and logistics services, got a ratings cut last week from "neutral" to "underweight." J.P. Morgan analyst Thomas Wadewitz made the cut because he believes C.H. Robinson faces more competition in its core truckload brokerage business. "We believe that the broader issue is one where an increasing number of private and public brokerage competitors have the technology and critical mass in size (gross revenue) to compete with CHRW," Wadewitz wrote in his research note.
C.H. Robinson now has eight "buy" recommendations, 20 "holds" and four "sells."
Patrick Kennedy