TOPS TESTING MEXICAN MEAL MERCHANDISING FROM ORTEGA

BARBARA MURRAY

BEDFORD, Ohio -- Tops Friendly Markets is testing a "disposable fridge" to merchandise Mexican meal solutions, according to the manager of a Tops store in this Cleveland suburb.

The Ortega FrigoPub Home Meal Solutions Center is in use in 10 Tops stores now and may be rolled out soon to as many as 300 stores. The unit is stocked with Ortega Mexican meal components as well as refrigerated meat, Sargento cheeses, and bagged salad mix. It is in four northeastern Ohio stores; the others are located in western New York, near Tops' Buffalo headquarters, with some units in Tops International stores.

"I've got it displayed over by my wine section, and it's going real well," said Jerry Uebbing, manager of the nearly 90,000-square-foot store here.

The merchandising unit, created by Octagon International, Cincinnati, was installed here in late April and will stay up for 12 weeks. This is Octagon's second test run in the United States. An initial test was run in five Zehrs units in Ontario in February, while the first U.S. test took place in Safeway and Raley's Supermarkets units on the West Coast, in March. The West Coast stores also did a co-marketing effort, but with Sargento and Contadina. The FrigoPub unit can chill 400 pounds of products. A compressor designed to last five years forms the base. Customized, corrugated superstructures, designed to last about three months, sit on top of the base. The disposable section has about 50 square feet of advertising space and makes a big visual impact.

"The use is short-term, because we rent the cooling compressor and custom manufacture the corrugated structure," explained Cam Dyment, president of Octagon Industries, Toronto. James Dyment, executive vice president of U.S. sales and marketing, said that the disposable fridge gives retailers the flexibility to run short-term marketing programs without having to commit to housing a permanent structure.

The Ortega Mexican meal center was designed to hold the company's entire product line. The Ortega groceries are displayed on the cardboard sidewings of the unit.

Additional tests will be run in 70 A&P, Dominion and Sobey's stores in Ontario, as well as some Canadian independents, beginning this week, and in 20 H.E. Butt stores in San Antonio, in mid-July.