New Partnership Spells Opportunity: AISI and Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. Educate Shoppers About Canned Food Benefits

AISI and Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. conducted a "Together We Can" campaign to demonstrate the nutritional and safety benefits of canned food to shoppers at selected Roundy's Pick 'n Save, Copps and Rainbow stores from October 7-31, 2007.

Building on the success of the January 2007 "Together We Can" campaign with Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. (see March 2007 issue of AISI E-News), the AISI/Roundy's joint venture promoted the safety, environmental and nutritional benefits of canned foods to 155 stores in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Shoppers sampled smoothie recipes made with canned fruit and received recipe books that highlighted ways to prepare canned foods. The campaign ended with the presentation of a $10,000 donation to local food banks.

"The 'Together We Can' campaign presented an opportunity to communicate the benefits of canned food and steel packaging at the point of purchase—the grocery store—and to draw attention to the nutritious canned products typically located in the lower-traffic middle section of the grocery store," said Rich Tavoletti, director of AISI's container market program and executive director of the Canned Food Alliance. Roundy's stores provided circular and merchandising support, which included canned food displays on the sales floor during the promotion.

"At the end of the four-week promotion, canned food sales were up significantly versus the same four-week period the previous year," Tavoletti said. "Initial results show that sales of canned chicken during the promotion rose by 30 percent, canned pasta by 21 percent, canned beans by seven percent, and canned tomatoes by five percent. This tracks well against the January 2007 Wegmans event, which increased the total sales of canned fruit, vegetables and tomatoes by 7.4 percent during a two-week promotion versus the same timeframe in 2006. In addition, canned items featured in food sampling events at Wegmans rose by 30 percent as consumers tried the in-store samples and then bought the ingredients to prepare the recipes at home." For more information, contact Rich Tavoletti .