CERTIFIED CALIFORNIA CELEBRATES 75TH BIRTHDAY WITH BILLBOARDS

MARYELLEN LO BOSCO / Additional reporting: ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

LOS ANGELES -- Certified Grocers of California here marked its 75th anniversary with a billboard campaign that featured its private-label lines.

The member-owned cooperative's statewide promotion used 206 billboards in major cities. The four-month promotion, which finished late last month, included three billboards that promoted Certified's Springfield and Golden Creme private-label products.

A fourth billboard resembled the top of a grocery bag, with a printed question: "Where does your grocer go for groceries?" This was followed by Certified's logo and the words "75 years of serving California grocers."

One billboard displayed an array of private-label items, including grocery and HBC products, along with the Springfield logo and a headline reading, "Delivering Value to Your Family for 50 Years." The same billboard also ran in Spanish.

Members of the Certified cooperative had the opportunity to tag billboards with their store names, said Tom Schaffner of Schaffner Communications, Chicago, Certified's public-relations firm.

This year marks the 50-year anniversary of the Springfield label, according to Schaffner.

The Springfield line includes about 1,500 products. The Golden Creme label is used for bread and dairy items.

"The line is virtually complete," Schaffner said, "and includes canned items, groceries, meat and general merchandise."

The major purpose of the campaign was to raise awareness of Certified's long history of service to the community and the value and quality of its private-label lines, according to the company.

Certified supplies more than 3,000 stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and the Pacific islands.