Publix Ad Combines Deli, Bakery
per Markets here got the deli and bakery departments together in a St. Patrick's Day ad.
Pastrami, corned beef and decorated cupcakes shared a block of ad space with a green background in the chain's circular.
A 12-ounce loaf of "authentic Italian bread" was offered free with the purchase of a pound or more of pastrami or corned beef at $4.49 a pound. That offer appeared above an illustration of a cupcake decorated with a shamrock. Below was the featured price of $2.39 for a 6-count package of cupcakes. Publix officials could not be reached for comment on the ad.
Taste Show Slates Platter Session
BRAINTREE, Mass. -- Maximizing profits on party platters is the subject of a seminar to be presented by the New England Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association as part its Taste Show and Seminar April 5 to 6 at the Bayside Exposition Center, Boston.
Also on the seminar program are research results on consumer buying habits and a rundown on regulations related to milk from cows treated with the growth hormone bovine somatotropin.
Speakers representing cheese and deli meat manufacturers will offer advice on how to make up attractive party trays with a minimum of labor. Meat and cheese folding techniques and quick ways to make tray garnishes will be demonstrated. They also will focus on specialty cheeses and "healthy" trays.
The seminars are scheduled for the mornings of April 5 and 6; the show floor hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on April 5, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 6. For more information, call NEDDA at (617) 849-1334.
Alpine Lace, Simplot Dairy in Deal
WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Alpine Lace Brands has sold 65% of its stake in cheese processor Mountain Farms to Simplot Dairy Products, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
"We decided that Mountain Farms was not a strategic business for us," said Howard G. Anders, Alpine vice president and chief financial officer.
"Our main focus is the Alpine Lace brand division. While Mountain Farms contributed sales volume, the amount of management time necessary to control it far exceeded the returns at this point," Anders said in a recent telephone interview.
Maplewood, N.J.-based Alpine Lace continues to own 35% of Mountain Farms, based in Logan, Utah. As part of the deal, completed last month, Alpine Lace guaranteed that Mountain Farms could continue to convert Alpine's fat-free cheese from blocks into convenience packages for three years. Alpine will pay Mountain Farms 10 cents per pound over its costs during that time, according to the filing.
Anders said the stock sale is unrelated to the fact that both Mountain Farms and Alpine operated at a loss in 1993, a situation he described as temporary in both cases.
