Schnucks Takes Stand for Quality, Safety

Where does your fresh meat come from? What ingredients have been added to this ground beef? What does that “sell-by” date mean on that deli sandwich?

The folks at Schnuck Markets Inc. suggest that perhaps the real question is, “Can you get answers to these and other food quality and safety questions at your grocery store?” If you shop at Schnucks or Logli, they say, then the answer is “yes.”

“All consumers should have the information needed to make informed food choices, no matter where they shop,” said Todd Schnuck, president and COO of the St. Louis-based retailer. “Our ‘Peace of Mind Quality’ awareness campaign will attempt to answer questions that those outside our industry may not know to ask. We hope to start a conversation with customers about the foods they buy for their families and about some of the things Schnucks does each day to ensure food quality and safety.”

Schnuck added: “For instance, Schnucks brand fresh beef, pork and chicken don’t need ingredient labels; they are products of the USA and all 100 percent meat. We do not add water, salt or preservatives such as carbon monoxide to our packaging (CO preserves the color of meat). While these are accepted industry practices, we choose to set the bar higher.

“Our Certified Angus Beef brand, for instance, passes 10 more quality specifications than USDA Choice. Schnucks ground beef is not prepackaged and shipped to us. Our butchers grind beef throughout the day. You’ll find the same high-quality selection in our deli departments. Food guidelines allow a sandwich to be kept in the cooler for up to six days from the day it was made. We intentionally shorten that cooler time in order to ensure freshness.”

According to Schnuck, the grocer employs 14 chefs, 10 certified specialists of wine and two florists certified by the American Institute of Floral Designers. “We continue cultivating expertise and investing heavily in quality and food safety all the while keeping prices down and taking care of more than 15,000 teammates,” he said. “It’s largely due to their cost-cutting efforts that we’ve been able to considerably lower retail prices without compromising the quality reputation that makes us who we are.

“In a time when standards are being challenged and shortcuts taken, Schnucks is taking a stand for quality. Every day, we rededicate ourselves to our goal by maintaining investments in education and training and in living up to our own rigorous food safety standards recognized as among the best in the industry. In the past, we’ve been silent on what we now believe is one of our greatest strengths. It’s time that our customers hear about the ‘The Schnucks Difference.’”

Schnucks Peace of Mind Quality is part two of the company’s new business platform. In January, Schnucks launched Peace of Mind Pricing promising value offerings on bananas (an item found in nearly 90 percent of all grocery carts) and 1,700 other high volume grocery and dairy food items, those most likely to be purchased weekly. The company believes these two strengths help differentiate Schnucks as the one grocery source offering customers the very best of both quality and value.

Meanwhile, Schnucks is inviting its shoppers to take a fun, rewarding and educational trip to “Schnucks QualityVille,” an interactive cyber town where players view videos to earn entries for a grand prize worth up to $25,000.

According to Schnucks VP of marketing Bob Howard, Schnucks QualityVille is a multimedia game designed to appeal to digital-age shoppers who want to learn more about the food they eat. The eight-week program officially launched on May 9 and will run through July 3.

Howard said the idea for QualityVille sprang out of brainstorming for the company’s “Peace of Mind Quality” awareness campaign. “‘Peace of Mind Quality’ is designed to promote the great quality choices our teammates make each day in order to deliver top-quality food and services to our customers,” he said. “This type of information is not easily shared during a shopping trip so we set out to capture attention in a different way.”

Players register by visiting www.schnucks.com and clicking on the QualityVille banner. “Once registered, players earn additional entries by watching a series of short video clips,” Howard said. “Each video viewed to completion is worth at least one entry into the grand prize drawing with a chance to earn bonus entries that are randomly revealed when the video is finished. Everyone who watches all 14 clips will receive a thank-you gift, a special high-value offer, via e-mail.”

The game started off with $5,000 and every Schnucks Facebook “like” adds $1 to the value of the grand prize up, to 20,000 “Likes” and a total of $25,000. There is no purchase necessary to play .

Founded in St. Louis in 1939, Schnuck Markets Inc. operates 105 stores (including five Logli stores) and 101 in-store pharmacies in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Tennessee and Mississippi.