(Chicago, IL) - 200,000 meals! That’s how many meals will be donated to those in need through Feeding America, the nation’s leading hunger relief organization. This follows the successful completion of a joint football-themed sales event in participating IGA stores this fall. The program was an extension of Kraft Foods’ national “Huddle to Fight Hunger” campaign, the company’s largest branded hunger-relief program designed to achieve a significant goal: give 20 million meals or more to Feeding America and local food banks across the U.S.
For the IGA-specific “Huddle to Fight Hunger” event, Kraft Foods invited fellow IGA Red Oval partners The Coca-Cola Company and Anheuser-Busch, Inc., to join in. The three companies worked with IGA Licensed Distribution Companies and IGA Retailers to place “Huddle to Fight Hunger” displays, event-specific point-of-sale materials, and cross merchandising coupons (where legal*) in participating IGA USA stores. For every “Huddle to Fight Hunger” display put in an IGA store, Kraft Foods agreed to make a donation to Feeding America in the name of IGA USA Retailers. In total, IGA USA Retailers’ participation raised the equivalent of 200,000 meals. Feeding America was presented with a check at the IGA USA Board Dinner, held on Nov. 17.
IGA’s Mark Batenic (from far right, front row), Kraft Foods’ Regenia Stein and Steve Holdiman and the IGA USA Board present Feeding America’s Nick Blawat (far left, front row) with the donation at the IGA USA Winter Board dinner
“The support across the IGA Alliance was really quite spectacular,” Kraft Foods’ Steve Holdiman, Customer Vice President for IGA / Industry Affairs, said. “First our friends at Coca-Cola and Budweiser joined in, and then we had tremendous participation from IGA’s Licensed Distribution Centers and retailers. It’s great to see what our IGA Alliance members can do when we work together. IGA Retailers delivered significant in-store support to help us achieve our ultimate goal of giving 20 million meals to Feeding America.”
“Across the country and around the world the IGA Retailers are known for giving back to the communities they serve,” IGA CEO Mark Batenic said. “The ‘Huddle to Fight Hunger’ initiative was a natural fit for our brand. We thank Kraft Foods for bringing this wonderful opportunity to our retailers, and Coca-Cola and Anheuser-Busch for jumping on board to further the cause. Most of all, we thank our Licensed Distribution Companies and retailers for their enthusiastic participation. This is just one more example of how they are working together to show consumers that IGA is committed to the causes that matter in our local communities, across the country and around the world.”
About IGA
IGA is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $21 billion per year. The Alliance includes nearly 5,500 Hometown Proud Supermarkets worldwide, supported by 36 distribution companies and more than 55 major manufacturers, vendors and suppliers known as IGA’s Red Oval Family partners. The Red Oval Family partners with IGA to provide extensive resources that are unavailable to other independents. IGA has operations in 46 of the United States and more than 40 countries, commonwealths and territories on all six inhabited continents.
About Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods is taking a stand when it comes to fighting hunger and promoting healthy lifestyles. The company and the Kraft Foods Foundation have donated nearly $1 billion in cash and food to organizations since 1990. Most recently, the company reinforced its commitment by donating $180 million over a three-year period to community involvement activities around the globe.
Kraft Foods is building a global snacks powerhouse and an unrivaled portfolio of brands people love. With annual revenues of approximately $48 billion, the company is the world's second largest food company, making delicious products for billions of consumers in approximately 170 countries. The portfolio includes 11 iconic brands with revenues exceeding $1 billion - Oreo, Nabisco and LU biscuits; Milka and Cadbury chocolates; Trident gum; Jacobs and Maxwell House coffees; Philadelphia cream cheeses; Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings; and Oscar Mayer meats. Approximately 70 brands generate annual revenues of more than $100 million. Kraft Foods (www.kraftfoodscompany.com; NYSE: KFT) is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor's 500, Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Ethibel Sustainability Index.
About Feeding America
Feeding America provides low-income individuals and families with the fuel to survive and even thrive. As the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, their network members supply food to more than 37 million Americans each year, including 14 million children and 3 million seniors. Serving the entire United States, more than 200 member food banks support 61,000 agencies that address hunger in all of its forms. For more information on how you can fight hunger in your community and across the country, visit www.feedingamerica.org. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow our news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.
