Jewel-Osco Partners on Grocery Giveaway

Four dozen shoppers will get their groceries free at select Chicago-area Jewel-Osco stores as part of a partnership between the Albertsons-owned banner and organic produce company Earthbound Farm.

To qualify for the promotion, shoppers must have at least one product in their cart from Earthbound Farm, Silk, Horizon, International Delight or So Delicious, all brands owned by Denver-based WhiteWave Foods. If they are chosen, Earthbound Farm will pay for their whole basket.

“Jewel-Osco is proud of the partnership with Earthbound Farm and our ever expanding O Organics brand,” Mary Frances Trucco, communications manager for the Itasca, Ill.-based grocery chain, told PG. “This is part of an ongoing commitment to help our customers with their food decisions and to get them thinking more about the environment.”

It’s Jewel-Osco’s second year teaming up with Earthbound Farm, which has done the giveaway for four years. Earthbound Farm is purchasing 500 carts at Albertsons/Safeway stores nationally, including 120 in the Chicago metro area.

As part of the $15,000 promotion, Earthbound Farm will cover the cost of groceries in 12 different carts at each store during a four-hour time period, the Naperville (Ill.) Sun reported.

"We wanted to maximize the number of shopping trips for stay-at-home moms or people coming during lunch or coming after work," Jessica Harris, Earthbound Farm’s customer marketing manager, told the Sun. "You want to reward someone at a time they're not expecting it. We approach them when they're in the checkout line."

Earthbound Farm devised the campaign to reward loyal customers "for trying to be healthier for themselves and their families and the planet," Harris told the Sun.

Many of those chosen have compelling stories, Harris told the Sun, such as one who was changing her diet after having been diagnosed with breast cancer.