AFFI promotes advantages of frozen food category to retail segment: touts frozen food aisles as retail's answer to HMR trend.

The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) took the positive messages about the convenience and high quality of frozen food products to the nation's retailers in a workshop presentation conducted during the National Grocers Association Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

During the workshop, "Activity based Management: A Tool for Measuring Frozen Food Profitability," AFFI Chairman of the Board H. Reid Wagstaff, vice president of government and environmental affairs for The J.M. Smucker Company; and AFFI member company representatives Dan Koch, senior vice president and general manager of the Grocery Products Division of Schwan's Sales Enterprises; and Chuck Karlow, vice president of frozen sales for Kellogg USA, promoted the opportunities frozen foods present to the retail segment in light of the home meal replacement (HMR) trend.

"Retailers already possess one of the most powerful weapons in the HMR war: the frozen food aisle," said Wagstaff, commenting on the ability of frozen food products to meet consumer wants and needs for meal solutions [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] that offer a wide variety of convenient, high quality and nutritious choices.

He noted AFFI's efforts to communicate the positive messages about frozen foods. He described a promotional coupon booklet, titled "A Pantry in Your Freezer," which will be the subject of a major marketing campaign this spring, as well as AFFI's frozen-specific 5 A Day - the COOL Way! campaign to promote the consumption of five or more servings of frozen fruits and vegetables each day for better health.

In addition, Wagstaff detailed the frozen food industry's work to promote the safety of the United States food supply, and described the safety of frozen food products.

"The U.S. food supply is the safest in the world, and the frozen food industry in particular has an important story to tell," he said. "The freezing technology, in numerous instances, can inactivate the germs that make people sick. And as many cases of foodborne illness are associated with improper food handling temperatures, frozen foods inherently are very safe products."

Koch, who cited retail sales figures from a recent study conducted by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), said, "Frozen foods will be an essential engine for future growth and profits in the grocery industry. The time conscious consumers of today are using more pre-prepared, value-added foods which demand less preparation and cooking time and less clean up afterward. If we as an industry continue to satiate these needs, we can continue to put more food dollars back in the grocery stores where they belong, and frozen foods will be a leader in this effort."

From the retail perspective, Karlow said, "With 80 percent of all breakfast still being eaten at home, it is a category that our retailers still own. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity for America's retailers."

AFFI's presentation was part of its aggressive Public and Trade Relations Program, which seeks to promote the frozen food category to the food trades, consumers and the media.

The American Frozen Food Institute is the national trade association that has represented the interests of the frozen food industry for over 55 years. Its 586 corporate members account for more than 90 percent of the frozen food production in the U.S.