Food retailers spreading holiday cheer

'Tis the season to be jolly -- and if you're a clever supermarket operator, to deck your halls with creative promotions. The German supermarket Edeka got into the spirit with a viral video featuring its cashiers scanning "Jingle Bells."

The music continues at both H-E-B and Food Lion. H-E-B's “Joyville” website provides holiday recipes, a gift guide, and free holiday music downloads from Texas honky-tonk artist Jack Ingram.

At the "Roaring in the Holidays," site, Food Lion is offering its shoppers the chance to send electroinic gift cards and download a series of holiday songs "sung" by its deadpan spokeslion.

At Price Chopper, shoppers who submit holiday photos on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #CheerBeginsHere are eligible to win one of four $1,000 Price Chopper gift cards.

Albertsons has partnered with Nabisco and Coca-Cola on a web program allowing parents to print out personalized "letters from Santa" for their children.

Kroger is asking shoppers to do a good deed, tweet about it, and possibly win a prize in its "Cheer Challenge." The site issues a series of challenges for shoppers, ranging from volunteering at a local food bank to building a snowman.