Safeway Promotes O-Brand Baby Line

CAROL ANGRISANI

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway is promoting its new “O Organics for Baby” line with an “O Baby” 100% cotton short-sleeve baby bodysuit. All profits go to the Safeway Foundation.

Available for $6.99 via a mail-in form that's downloaded from Safeway.com, the bodysuit is the latest way Safeway is supporting its 6-month-old O Organics for Baby and O Organics for Toddler private-label food and beverages.

This past spring, Safeway conducted a photo contest among its shoppers and chose one infant to be featured on O Organic for Baby packaging, and a toddler to adorn the packaging of O Organic for Toddler items.

Safeway launched the USDA-certified organic products in April. Formula, cereal, baby food, cereal bars, arrowroot cookies and dried fruit were among the first 40 items offered.

The retailer has since expanded the line with O Organics for Kids, which includes cereal, juice pouches and peanut butter.

The line is frequently promoted. A 25.7-ounce can of O Organics infant formula is currently on sale for $19.99.

The new products join some 150 others available under the O Organics brand.

The expansion comes at a time when U.S. organic food sales were $16.9 billion in 2006, up 22% from 2005, according to the Organic Trade Association, Greenfield, Mass. Organic sales now represent about 3% of retail food and beverage sales.