Frozen food executives off to Nashville to face the music at Opryland meeting.

Leaders of the United States frozen food industry are retreating to the country Oct. 3-5 to attend their annual national convention. And there will be plenty of country music and Southern hospitality in the air, as the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, is serving as headquarters for the meetings and supplier exhibits.

A reception will officially kick off the social agenda on Sunday night. In addition to cocktails, a menu consisting of frozen food products supplied by American companies will be available to sample.

On Monday morning, Dr. Anthony J.F. O'Reilly, who heads up H.J. Heinz Co., will serve as breakfast speaker. His remarks will be followed by a 9:30-11 AM general session that will address "Future Directions in Frozen Foods." Presenting the retail view of trends that are shaping business will be Glen Terbeek of Andersen Consulting. Nancy Kruse of Technomic Inc. will give the foodservice outlook. Providing the industry's perspective will be executives from two trade associations: William Fisher, executive vice president of the National Restaurant Association, and Tom Zaucha, president and ceo of the National Grocery Association.

Tuesday's schedule will begin with a breakfast speech delivered by Jack Kemp, former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and potential candidate for the Republican Party's nomination for the Presidency in 1996. His remarks will be followed by an all-industry workshop designed to show decision-makers how to out-think their competition. The session will be facilitated by Jeff Slutsky.

Evening activities will be centered around a Grand Awards Banquet during which Finast Supermarkets and Apollo Ship Chandlers Inc. are to be feted for being respectively named Supermarket Merchandiser and Foodservice Innovator of the Year.

Healthy Choice Breaks Billion, Helps ConAgra Bottom Line

Sales of Healthy Choice frozen entrees and other products surged nearly 50% last year, and by the fourth quarter the line had become a billion-dollar brand for ConAgra, Inc., Omaha, Nebraska.

Net income for the food processing conglomerate increased eight percent to $401.4 million, on sales that were up 1.4% to $21.5 billion, in face of what Chairman and CEO Philip B. Fletcher said were "generally difficult conditions in the food industry."

Frozen chicken and turkey products earnings were adversely affected by intense industry competition, especially during the fourth quarter. But the Lamb-Weston frozen potato products and Golden Valley microwave foods operations showed excellent earnings growth, as did ConAgra's Australian beef processing business (U.S.-based beef and pork processing, by contrast, was hit hard by weather-related high raw material costs).