ACME MARKETS, KRAFT HELP FOOD BANKS

WILLIAM SMYTH

MALVERN, Pa. -- Acme Markets here got into the holiday groove last week by raising funds for local food banks in the Delaware Valley region through a joint promotion with Kraft Foods .

Every time a customer purchased Kraft mayonnaise, Maxwell House coffee, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Jell-O pudding, Breyer's yogurt, Claussen pickles, StoveTop stuffing, Honey Comb cereal, Oscar Meyer wieners or Kraft salad dressings, Acme donated 20 cents per product to local food banks to provide Christmas dinners for some of the area's less fortunate.

The meals will be assembled and distributed through the Greater Philadelphia Food Bank, Delaware Food Bank and the Community Food Bank of South Jersey.

"Acme is proud to offer this support to the communities we serve. Distributing these dinners will be a team effort between Kraft, Acme, the food banks and especially our customers. We couldn't do any of it without their generosity," said Craig Herkert, president of Acme.

According to Walt Rubel, director of government and community relations at Acme, the promotion included a variety of display signage. "There were shelf-talkers and displays that read, 'Help Acme raise money for hungry families in your area.' The signs were displayed under the products in the aisles. Each store also had a big picture in the front window," he said.

"We feel very strongly about this promotion," added Rubel. "We've done a number of things like this with organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House, United Way and the Philadelphia Zoo."

Acme Markets has 165 retail stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. It is a division of Albertson's, Boise, Idaho.