WINNERS OF COOL FOOD FOR KIDS CONTEST REAP CRYSTAL APPLES

BARBARA MURRAY

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Winners of the October 1998 Cool Food for Kids contest received Crystal Apple awards from the National Frozen Food Association here.

Winning promotions used Cool Food-themed activities, tie-ins, community and employee activities, ad coverage, eye-catching displays and educational activities.

Picking up awards in the retailer category were Albertson's Southwest division, Tolleson, Ariz.; Harris Teeter, Charlotte, N.C.; Winn-Dixie Stores Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C.; and Winn-Dixie Orlando, Orlando, Fla.

The Harris Teeter chain worked with the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System to develop a total school program tied in with promotional efforts in the stores. As reported in SN, Harris Teeter initiated a pilot program for 60,000 middle- and high-school students that encouraged them to set academic goals. At the same time the students were exposed to the frozen-food message.

The chain also developed a program for 30,000 third, fourth and fifth graders congruent with what the kids were studying. For younger kids, grades K-2, the chain developed a coloring piece that incorporated Harris Teeter's frozen-food message, along with a contest that awarded shopping sprees to three young artists.

"Judging from the increased sales numbers and numerous thank-you letters, we may have gained a few more lifelong believers in the frozen-food message -- of great taste, easy preparation and great value to families," said Sonya Elam, spokeswoman for Harris Teeter.

The Frozen Food Council of Northern California, San Ramon, one of the four winning associations, tied one promotion to National Coupon Month with a kids' design-a-coupon contest, according to Jay Prisco, council director. As reported in SN, the council also worked with Raley's Supermarkets & Drug Centers, West Sacramento, Calif., and Save Mart Supermarkets, Modesto, Calif., on a trial run of a "Kidz Zone" concept in the frozen aisle. The test is continuing in two stores and will be evaluated soon, Prisco said.

Other local winners were the Frozen Food Council of Oregon and Southwest Washington, Tualatin, Oregon; the Frozen Food Council of North Carolina, Charlotte, N.C.; and the North Florida Frozen Food Association, Jacksonville, Fla.

Winning brokerages were Advantage Sales & Marketing, Portland, Ore.; Co-Sales Co., Phoenix; and Kelley-Clarke, Pleasanton, Calif.

Brenda Moore, a territory sales rep with Kelley-Clarke's Pleasanton office, worked with Bel-Air store 515 in Cameron Park, a suburb of Sacramento, to achieve a repeat win.

Moore helped create an enormous 6-foot-tall bridge within the frozen-food section, called "Bridge Into Frozen Food." She also brought a local soccer team to the store on a Saturday afternoon, where the team demoed Red Baron pizza and served Breyers ice cream floats. A local hip hop radio station broadcast from the store.

Co-Sales, Phoenix, took 12 of the top 15 awards by building displays throughout the marketplace, according to Jeff Nelson, senior vice president of produce. He noted that the win for Albertson's Southwest division was with its broker partner, Crossmark Sales & Marketing, Tempe, Ariz.. and it was their first entry in the Cool Food for Kids contest. The promotions targeted school children and their families, educating them on nutrition, Nelson said.

Typically, he said, the stores that did best with displays also were the ones that tied in most with schoolchildren. Nelson noted that the Arizona council had 90 entries in the October contest, which is more than it had six or seven years ago for the main contest in March. The March contest now draws 250 entries.