Irish Display Contest

ROSEANNE HARPER

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. — In the run-up to St. Patrick's Day, Super Foodtown and Foodtown delis are competing against each other to create the best Irish cheese display.

The stores, owned by Food Circus Super Markets, launched the contest in conjunction with Kerrygold-brand Irish cheese and butter.

“We've increased the variety of Kerrygold products from four to 14, including the butter,” Patti Rispoli, deli supervisor for the 10-unit chain, told SN.

Signage, frequent demos and eye-catching displays are calculated to attract customers to the specialty cheese department, Rispoli said.

All stores in the chain are participating in the display contest and holding demos.

“During the demos, we found that a lot of people were surprised that we had butter from Ireland. We offered samples of it spread on Irish soda bread. They liked that.”

Of the cheeses, a customer favorite was Dubliner made with stout, but Rispoli said others preferred milder varieties such Leicester.

While the displays and featured varieties will be changed a little after St. Patrick's Day, the Kerrygold promotion will continue through March.

The sales increases will depend on store location, Rispoli said. Two Super Foodtown units lie in areas with large Irish populations, and two others are near an annual St. Patrick's parade.

“Those will get the biggest increases. But all in all, I expect the month-long promotion will boost our sales of the featured Irish products by 60% to 70%,” Rispoli said.