Safeway Rolls Out Eating Right Kids

CAROL ANGRISANI

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Fruit punch-flavored fitness water featuring Tweety on the package is one of the first items to launch in Safeway's new Eating Right Kids line, according to Warner Bros. Consumer Products.

Rolling out now, the 12-ounce water is one of some 100 Eating Right Kids products that will hit Safeway shelves throughout the remainder of this year and into 2009.

Also launching now is a 12-ounce vitamin water featuring the Road Runner, as well as several 10-ounce juices, including apple, featuring Taz; fruit punch, Tweety; and orange-tangerine, Bugs Bunny.

Next in line is “Toasted O's” sweetened oat and rice cereal; and chewy fruit bars with chocolate coating.

The new line will eventually span more than 30 categories, including breakfast foods, portable meals, dairy, snacks and beverages. Under a licensing agreement, Warner Bros.' popular animated Looney Tunes characters will be featured on all product packaging.

“The Warner Bros. Consumer Products partnership will allow us to extend the Eating Right brand to a line of products that will appeal to children, and at the same time give parents the comfort that these products are healthier choices,” Safeway marketing president Mike Minasi said in a statement.

Warner Bros. will start promoting the line both in-store and out-of-store beginning in the fall, according to Warner Bros. Consumer Products spokesman Barry Ziehl.

“There will be a broad marketing plan,” Ziehl told SN.

A Safeway spokesman told SN that Warner Bros.' marketing expertise is “clearly a benefit” of the partnership.

The kids' line is an extension of Eating Right, a 150-item proprietary brand introduced last year to help people identify foods that offer various dietary benefits. Packaging contains color-coded circles that identify if a food is high in fiber, low in fat, made with whole grain and more. Selections include frozen entrees, cereal, soups, snacks, juices, canned goods, salad dressings and fresh bagged salads.

The partnership comes after Warner Bros. was searching for ways to incorporate the Looney Tunes brand on better-for-you foods and beverages for children. It found Safeway to be the perfect fit because of its proven track record in the better-for-you category, said Ziehl.

“Safeway brings their expertise in the grocery and nutrition channel, and we bring the entertainment and action-packed power of these storied characters that moms and kids both love,” Ziehl said.