Supervalu Indies Give a Million Meals

Supervalu’s independent retailers have raised more than 1 million meals with the help of consumers as part of a Kraft Foods effort to tackle hunger across the country.

The million-meal goal is part of Kraft’s football-themed Huddle to Fight Hunger, designed to give 20 million meals or more to Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief agency.

Supervalu independent retailers exceeded the goal with the help of consumers, who made monetary donations at checkout. They could then add their names to the Huddle roster by signing their “pledge bag,” which were displayed throughout the store.

Through this program, Supervalu’s independent retailers are donating the monetary equivalent of more than 1 million meals to Feeding America on behalf of food banks across the country.

“Hunger is a very serious issue in our country that often goes overlooked,” said Christine Walsh, Supervalu VP of independent marketing and education. “Sadly, 49.1 million Americans, or one in six of our neighbors, struggle to put food on their tables. That’s why we’ve joined Kraft Foods in their ambitious effort and are encouraging members of the community to huddle with us to address this problem. It can’t be overlooked anymore.”

Huddle to Fight Hunger includes celebrities like football legend Joe Montana, sports journalist Erin Andrews and chefs Pat and Gina Neely, and includes marketing support vehicles such as consumer incentives, high-impact media like cinema, newspaper and magazine ads, a major public relations campaign, as well as social and mobile activities.

The campaign will culminate in San Francisco on Jan. 9, 2011, with the first-ever Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl featuring college football teams from the WAC and PAC-10.

Minneapolis-based Supervalu Inc. operates 4,280 stores composed of approximately 1,160 traditional retail stores, including 813 in-store pharmacies; 1,210 hard-discount stores, of which 876 are operated by licensee owners; and 1,910 independent stores serviced primarily by the company’s traditional food distribution business.