RALPHS, FOOD 4 LESS IN MEAL-SOLUTIONS PLAN

MARYELLEN LO BOSCO

COMPTON, Calif. -- Ralphs Grocery Co. and Food 4 Less here have become the proving ground for an innovative meal-solutions idea -- an integrated pallet program of frozen breakfast and lunch items.

Rick Walker, vice president of the frozen division for AMG Sales South (formerly Sales Mark), Sante Fe Springs, Calif., began putting together meal solutions for Ralphs in February, beginning with a breakfast program, and has now finished a lunch program that launched last month at Ralphs and this month at Food 4 Less.

The items chosen are "Cadillac brands," explained Walker, from one or more brokers. They are integrated as a pallet module by a third-party consolidator willing to take ownership of the program.

Brokers first sell pallets of the selected items to the third-party, who then integrates and repalletizes them. The modules are then sold to the retailer, who in turn cross merchandises and cross promotes the items.

In the case of the lunch program, the brokers involved are Walker of AMG Sales, who represents Minute Maid juices, and John Nielson of Marketing Specialists, Orange, Calif., representing Celeste pizza. The third-party consolidator is AmeriCold Logistics, Ontario, Calif.

"I wanted to address the lunch and snack-time occasion," Walker said. "[Minute Maid juices] are a great summertime item," he continued, "and I wanted to team up with a pizza partner."

"Pizza Punch Party" was launched at Ralphs in May and at Food 4 Less last week. Four stockkeeping units of Minute Maid 16-ounce frozen lemonade and punches and three SKUs of Celeste pizza are being bundled and sold at four for $5 at Ralphs, and for 98 cents each at Food 4 Less.

The retailers have the choice of ordering either an 81-case or a 48-case pallet. Currently, 225 Ralphs stores are involved in the program, and 62 Food 4 Less stores are participating.

Walker used store-specific data from Spectra, Chicago, to ascertain which units indexed the highest for the products to be included in the meal-solutions program.

Each pallet is equipped with a point-of-sale coffin card and static-cling card, said Walker, which can be used for either coffins or doors. AmeriCold shrink-wraps the integrated pallet and handles the billing and collection.

Walker has plans to add Pillsbury Gino's Crisp and Tasty Pizza to the lunch program, with a feature price of 99 cents. Gino's Pizza would be sold with 12-ounce cans of Minute Maid juices, also at 99 cents.

Walker and the retailers are also continuing the breakfast program. The broker is adding Hungry Jack Waffles to the mix, which will be sold with 12-ounce cans of Minute Maid orange juice at four for $5.

Moreover, he expects the program to be expanded to other major retailers and is currently negotiating with two chains, which he declined to name. One program under discussion is a breakfast solution with a back-to-school theme.

Walker expects to see anywhere from a 200% to 250% increase over baseline sales on the lunch items.

During the breakfast program at Food 4 Less, which ran in April and included Minute Maid Orange Juices, Eggo Waffles and Ore-Ida potatoes, increases were as high as 470% on the featured items, when compared with the previous 13-week period.