A&P AFFIXES EIGHT O'CLOCK COFFEE LOGO ON ICE CREAM

AMITY K. MOORE

MONTVALE, N.J. -- A&P here has expanded its private-label Eight O'Clock logo from coffee and tea into ice cream.

Eight O'Clock cappuccino ice cream is already in some A&P subsidiaries in southeast Michigan, Atlanta and New Orleans, said Harry Carter, vice president and general manager at Wesley's Quaker Maid, Detroit, which manufactures the ice cream.

Cappuccino is currently the only flavor offered, though additional coffee varieties are being explored, Carter said. The average retail price for a half-gallon is $2.99.

Eight O'Clock is a division of Compass Foods, a subsidiary of A&P. Up until now, its logo was used only on coffee and tea sold throughout A&P and in other chains.

Eight O'Clock wanted to market its new ice cream to A&P as well as other supermarket chains. But when the company's sales representatives approached chain operators nationwide, they were faced with high slotting fees, said Alex Arlequin, vice president of sales and marketing at Eight O'Clock.

"In ice cream, you might go to a chain and they'll ask you for $300,000 to occupy a couple doors in a frozen-food section," Arlequin said. "Then at the end of a year, you might get kicked out." He added that it would cost the company about $500,000 to secure space in the Phoenix market. As a result, Eight O'Clock is pitching its ice cream line solely to A&P. "There are no immediate plans for distribution outside of A&P at this point," Arlequin added.