Rice Food Giving Away Trucks
kets and PriceBuster Foods here are giving away pickup trucks, cash and turkeys during a 13-week game promotion.
The "Turkeys, Trucks and Cash Match," as the promotion is called, offers three ways for shoppers to win. In one game, consumers win cash instantly. In a second, similar to Bingo, turkeys and cash are prizes. Nonwinning tickets can be entered in a sweepstakes, where nine Ford Ranger pickup trucks will be given away.
Besides the trucks, more than $200,000 and 5,000 turkeys are being offered during the promotion, which runs through Nov. 24.
Dick Bergman, vice president of merchandising and operations for Rice Food Markets, which operates PriceBuster Foods, said the promotion is a way to attract consumers in a tough market.
Since competition between supermarkets is fierce in the Houston area, Rice Food Markets and PriceBuster Foods needed a point of difference, he said. They decided to try the give-aways, something they had never done before, he said.
The promotion is co-sponsored by Borden, Columbus, Ohio; a local Ford dealership and Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. of Texas.
FMI, NOAA Sponsor Course
BOSTON -- The Food Marketing Institute and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have scheduled a seafood course for supermarket personnel.
The "Seafood Splash Course for Supermarkets" will be held Jan. 22 to 24 at locations in Boston and Gloucester, Mass.
The program will include hands-on labs, lectures and tours of the New England Fish Exchange, a processing facility and a local supermarket seafood department.
For more information contact Patricia Boyland of FMI at (202) 452-8444; Karla Ruzicka of NOAA's National Training Branch at (508) 281-9269, or Michael Bavota, National Marine Fisheries Service, (609) 439-1750.
Turkey Group Sets Convention
RESTON, Va. -- The National Turkey Federation will hold its annual convention at the Buena Vista Palace in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 8 to 12.
The conference agenda focuses on new aggressive regulatory programs affecting the industry and future marketing opportunities.
