SHOP 'N' BAG SERVES UP PASTA PROMOTION

JULIE C. BOEHNING

UPPER DUBLIN, Pa. -- Dreshertown Shop 'n' Bag here celebrated Columbus Day with two back-to-back frozen pasta promotions.

During the week before Columbus Day, the retailer promoted the upscale Scaramuzza line of frozen pasta and sauce.

"It's a great time of year to push pasta," said David Goodyear, frozen food manager. During the week of Columbus Day, Shop 'n' Bag switched its frozen pasta promotion from the Scaramuzza line to the Landolfi brand.

By promoting frozen pasta early in the fall, Goodyear hopes to boost the category's sales during the holidays. "I'm gearing customers up. This is the beginning of the carnival," he said.

During an in-store demo, which took place the Friday before Columbus Day, representatives from the Clifton Heights, Pa.-based Scaramuzza pasta company offered shoppers several different pasta shapes cooked in Scaramuzza frozen tomato sauce.

"We demonstrated the spinach and cheese jumbo ravioli, cheese gnocchis and the half-moon ravioli with red sauce," said Goodyear.

Frozen pasta at Shop 'n' Bag is a hot item, according to Goodyear. "I have three and a half doors, and I sell pasta like there's no tomorrow," he said.

Scaramuzza brand pasta is a specialty line that benefits from in-store demos, said Goodyear. "It has a higher retail, but it's the kind of item that once your customers taste the product, they buy it," he said.

Shop 'n' Bag also advertised the pasta in its weekly ad and featured five items in endcap displays, said Goodyear.

The Landolfi promotion included an endcap display that cross- merchandised Landolfi tortellini and stuffed rigatoni with Landolfi garlic bread, according to Goodyear. Landolfi is based in Trenton, N.J.