PUBLIX ADVOCATES ALL-OUT INDUSTRY EFFORT

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Food Industry Crusade Against Hunger should be an all-industry crusade, according to Ed Crenshaw, president of Publix Super Markets here.

FICAH can be more effective in attempting to wipe out hunger if it has the cooperation of all segments of the industry, including vendors and more retailers, Crenshaw told SN.

"We want to make FICAH an all-industry effort that we all can be proud of," he said, "and working more closely with vendors will enable the industry to do a better job. It just seems to make a lot more sense for an all-industry effort to fight hunger."

An all-industry effort must include vendors, Crenshaw said, and Publix, like other retailers, is in discussions with some manufacturers about developing promotional partnerships to raise money for the organization. But he believes those promotions should be limited over the course of a year.

"We've got to be careful not to overdo it," he explained. "These promotions should be something vendors want to do over and above what they normally do. We don't want to ask them to shift dollars -- we want these promotions to be something they can really get behind as part of an effort to fight hunger, and that means the number of them ought to be somewhat limited.

"We don't want these promotions to compete with the Food For All program and other charity efforts. You can't do a FICAH promotion with one company and then do another FICAH promotion with another. We can't FICAH our customers to death."

Crenshaw acknowledged that other retailers may feel differently, "but at Publix, we're interested in programs during a specific window that coincides with the Food For All drive in the stores."

Publix's interest in FICAH goes back to FICAH's creation in 1985, Crenshaw said. It reflects the philosophy of the chain's founder, George W. Jenkins, "that our success is dependent on the communities we serve so we need to give back to those communities," Crenshaw told SN.

Publix participates in FICAH's Food For All program -- the checkstand program that allows customers to donate $1, $3 or $5 to local hunger programs by picking up a coupon near the register that is scanned, with the amount added to the consumer's grocery bill -- annually during October and early November, Crenshaw said.

In contrast to other retailers who offer the program seasonally through the end of the year, Publix prefers to limit the program to several weeks in the fall "because that's the time period when most people are in the state of Florida, which provides an opportunity to do a better job with it," Crenshaw said.

"We also prefer that the Food For All program ends before the stores get too busy at the end of the year, when there are a lot of other giving activities, including the Salvation Army program that we participate in. So, we try to schedule each program so we're not asking customers for multiple contributions to different groups at the same time."

Last year, Publix raised more than $900,000 through Food For All, he said, and over the past 15 years the company has donated $4.5 million to FICAH, he noted.

"Originally, we had a jar at every register and customers could put in cash, which from an accounting standpoint was a nightmare to reconcile," Crenshaw recalled. "But over the years FICAH has made the program easier for consumers and for our accounting department by offering the scannable coupons."

Publix supports the Food For All program with point-of-sale signage at each checkstand, "and we also do message boxes in our ads to let customers know that the FICAH drive is under way -- and to explain what FICAH is and where the money is going.

"We do that so they understand that their money stays in the community through donations to local food banks."

Crenshaw said he is a strong advocate of the Food For All program and, since becoming a FICAH trustee last year, he has been talking with executives at other companies that do not participate in the program. "I try to educate them a little by letting them know how easy it is to participate and how they get credit for the donation because the money stays in the community.

"The response is generally favorable, and they say they'll look into it. Then FICAH does the follow-up, to explain how it can customize the Food For All program for each retailer."