It’s March National Frozen Food Month!
Anational FSI announcing March National Frozen Food Month dropped February 27th in newspapers around the country, and encouraged consumers to visit the frozen food aisle for special deals. Make sure you are part of this industry-wide event to increase frozen food sales by promoting in March! Don’t miss your chance to compete for the prestigious Golden Penguin award. Remember to document all of your promotional plans and results for submission in the competition. Click here to download the March Golden Penguin rules brochure. Best of luck with your promotion!

Don’t Miss the Retail Executive Conference
The 13th annual Retail Executive Conference will be held April 18-20, 2005 at the Tempe Mission Palms Hotel & Conference Center in Tempe, AZ. The Conference features top industry speakers on many hot issues including RFID, Health and Wellness Trends, Multi-Ethnic Marketing, Crisis Management & Consumer Product Recalls, New Product Introductions and more! In addition to these sessions, delegates will have plenty of time to network with industry colleagues. Time is running out to register! For a list of registered delegates, contact NFRA at (717) 657-8601. Click here to see the detailed Conference agenda and download the registration form.

Preparations for June Dairy Month Underway
NFRA will announce June Dairy Month to a total of 29 million consumers in two national FSIs - one on June 5th and one on June 19th. The ad will direct consumers to the www.BringUsToYourTable.com website where they can enter the $7,500 Cool Favorites Sweepstakes. Join us in promoting June Dairy Month and raising refrigerated dairy sales again this year! To help with your planning, NFRA has developed an Idea Book including a catalog of specially designed point of sale items for June. In addition, June Dairy Month will offer another opportunity for members to win a Golden Penguin award for outstanding promotion of refrigerated foods during June. The June Idea Book and Golden Penguin rules will be arriving in the mail shortly or you can download the Idea Book and Catalog and the Golden Penguin Rules now.

NFRA to Launch Summer Favorites Ice Cream & Novelties Promotion
Begin planning for the upcoming June/July Summer Favorites Ice Cream & Novelties Promotion. This merchandising event for the key ice cream and novelties categories has exciting promotional elements for everyone, including a Retail Display Contest and $30,000 Consumer Instant Win Game. Information on how to participate in this cool, summer event will be arriving soon in the mail or click here for all the details.

Registration is Open for National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Convention
It’s never too early to register for the 2005 Convention to be held October 8-12 in San Francisco, CA. The Convention brings together the leading frozen and refrigerated food companies from all segments of the industry to meet face-to-face -- to make contacts and conduct business. In addition, Convention delegates will hear from top industry experts ACNielsen and Willard Bishop Consulting on the latest industry trends. You can now find the detailed agenda and registration form online. Click here for more on the Convention.

NFRA Publishes Two Industry Resources
The NFRA 2004 Annual Report and the 2005 Membership Directory are now published and have been mailed to all members. The Annual Report is a retrospective of the Association’s and industry’s highlights from the last year and includes an annual review of the frozen and refrigerated departments by Information Resources Inc. An invaluable desk-top resource, the 2005 Membership Directory will help you find all the contact information for NFRA’s over 400 member companies. Additional copies may be purchased. Click here to order.

NFRA Welcomes Our Newest Members
Please welcome the companies listed below who have met the qualifications of membership and have joined the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association.

Logistic Provider

Dolphin Express Freight, Inc.
305-557-4637

Supplier

Nova Chemicals
www.novachem.com

Recent Certificate of Excellence Recipients
The Certificate of Excellence, the highest operational award in the frozen and refrigerated foods industry, signifies that a facility conforms to the highest standards, and strictly adheres to the Code of Recommended Practices for the handling and merchandising of frozen & refrigerated foods.

Renewal

Ashland Cold Storage
15556 W. 43rd Street, Chicago, IL

Burris Refrigerated Logistics
4501 Dignan Street, Jacksonville, FL

Hall’s Warehouse Corp.
501 Kentile Road, South Plainfield, NJ

Hanson Cold Storage
2875 S. Pipestone Road, Benton Harbor, MI

Hanson Cold Storage
1151 S. Griswold, Hart, MI

Henningsen Cold Storage Company
229 Maple Street, Scranton, PA

Interstate Cold Storage
2400 Setterlin Drive, Columbus, OH

Minnesota Freezer Warehouse Co.
820 East 13th Street, Albert Lea, MN

Minnesota Freezer Warehouse Co.
1907 Fourteenth Street NE, Austin, MN

Minnesota Freezer Warehouse Co.
2626 Polar Road, Worthington, MN

SCS Refrigerated Services
502 – 10th Avenue North, Algona, WA

SCS Refrigerated Services
2302 Milwaukee Way, Tacoma, WA

U.S. Cold Storage
601 Twin Rail Drive, Minooka, IL

U.S. Cold Storage
2003 S. Cherry Avenue, Fresno, CA

U.S. Cold Storage
1727 J.P. Hennessey Drive, La Vergne, TN

Golbon recently announced the hiring of Doug Polk as the group’s next president. Polk will replace the retiring, long-time president of Golbon, Tom Baldridge.

Lakeside Foods announced that Betsy Blitz Kocourek has been elected to Lakeside Foods Board of Directors. In addition, she will serve on the Human Resources and Finance Committee.

SYSCO Corporation announced that Amanda J. Mesler has been named vice president, organization development & strategy. In this newly created position, Mesler will be responsible for facilitating and aligning SYSCO’s strategic plan and initiatives.

Lamb Weston has a premium line of french fries coated with exclusive blends of great-tasting seasonings. Available in several cut styles from Straight Cuts and Wedge Cuts to Twister® Fries, CrissCut® Fries and many others. Choose from a broad range of flavors including Original Recipe, Spicy Recipe, Tempura, Ranch Recipe and many more. For more information: www.lambweston.com

ConAgra Foods recently introduced Lamb Weston brand S’mores. Baked quickly and ready-to-serve right from your oven. Available in 1.575 ounce and 2.85 ounce sizes. Featuring a sweet chocolate flake/sugar finish on the crust, S’mores are ideal for foodservice operation, including quick-service restaurants, casual dining units and school cafeterias. For more information: www.lambweston.com

Golbon announced the addition of Hospitality Services Unlimited, Inc. of Miami, FL, Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited and Inland Meats, Inc. of Spokane, WA as new distributor members. Hospitality Services was founded in 1995 as a distributor servicing independent hotels and resorts on the island of Jamaica. Inland Meats was founded in 1932 as a meat processor. Today their primary focus revolves around independent restaurants, clubs and maintaining their focus on processing. For more information: www.golbon.com

Hanson Cold Storage recently announced that after 50 years of service to the frozen food industry, the company is changing its name to Hanson Logistics. Founded in 1954, Hanson Cold Storage built its reputation for high quality temperature controlled warehousing primarily in Southern Michigan. The new name reflects a near term objective of providing their customers with a single source for warehousing and transportation. For more information: www.hansonlogisticsgroup.com

Henningsen Cold Storage Co. recently announced the opening of their newest cold storage operation in Kent, WA, a suburb of Seattle. Located near I-5, between Seattle and Tacoma, the Kent facility offers both frozen and refrigerated storage space and services for local, regional, national and international customers. The fully-racked facility has 14 truck doors with a refrigerated loading/unloading dock. For more information: www.henningsen.com

Quick Frozen Foods International is now taking orders for the 2005 QFF Processors Directory and Buyers Guide. This up-to-date, 400-page guide contains 11,152 listings of frozen food processors, logistics providers, brokers, suppliers and industry associations. The 2005 edition can be obtained for $150.00 each. For more information: 212-557-8600

The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board recently announced its "Win-In-A-Flash" on-line game. On April 3, 2005, 41.7 million American households will receive a full page FSI with coupons for a variety of Wisconsin Cheese brands. Each coupon contains a PIN number for playing the Wisconsin Cheese "Win-In-A-Flash" game. For more information contact: www.retailerWisDairy.com

Keep the industry updated about news and staff promotions at your company. NFRA will publish your company highlights monthly in the NFRA Update. Send your company news to us at info@nfraweb.org; via fax to (717) 657-9862; or via mail to NFRA, 4755 Linglestown Rd., Suite 300, Harrisburg, PA 17112.