MARKET BRIEFS 1995-05-08

SnackWell's Extends Into Bakery

SnackWell's brand is coming to the in-store bakery in the form of reduced-fat fruit pies from Plush Pippin here, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nabisco.

Plush Pippin, a supplier of gourmet bake-off pies to in-store bakeries, introduced the line at the annual convention of the Retail Bakers of America held in San Francisco March 11 to 13.

The bake-off pies, which are featured in window boxes with Snackwell's signature green packaging, are currently available in two flavors: cherry and apple. More flavors, and more dessert items for the in-store bakery, are anticipated. A cheesecake is one possibility, a company representative said.

Single-Key Coupon Process Tested

DALLAS -- Kimberly-Clark here and Supervalu, Minneapolis, began testing a single-key coupon processing program April 1 that its developers claim will nearly eliminate deductions.

The service has been developed by the manufacturer's coupon redemption agent Carolina Manufacturers' Service, Winston-Salem, N.C., and retail coupon processor North American Data Processors, El Paso, Texas. NADP counts the coupons and forwards the electronic data to CMS on diskette. CMS then analyzes the electronic data and issues payments.

During the testing period, CMS will count 100% of the paper coupons. After the test phase, only a sample will be audited, said Joan Johnson, CMS marketing manager. "We hope to be able to open it for other manufacturers and other data collection agencies on June 1," she said.

Hallmark Names Team Leaders

KANSAS CITY -- Hallmark Cards has named the four people who will lead the company's mass-channel teams. Bill Stacy, marketing vice president-food team, will lead his team in developing customer-specific solutions for all food channel retailers.

Jim Welch will serve as marketing vice president-drug store team. He is responsible for developing customer-specific solutions for chain and independent drugstore retailers.

Stan Lewis will guide his team in developing customer-specific solutions for clients such as Target, Kmart, department stores, college bookstores and military accounts in the position of marketing vice president-general merchandise team.

Dennis Boege has been named marketing vice president for the Wal-Mart team.