Birds Eye Readies Packaging, P.R. Push

Birds Eye Foods this month launches new packaging for its frozen vegetables, kicking off a major p.r. campaign.

The p.r. push is timed to coincide with new dietary guidelines due out in early 2005. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is boosting the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables from five-to-nine servings per day to five-to-13.

"Birds Eye is in an excellent position to help consumers creatively meet this challenge' of eating more produce, said Birds Eye Executive VP-Sales, Marketing and Business Development David Hogberg in a statement.

Birds Eye will launch a toll-free Veggie Helpline, an enhanced Web site, and a variety of direct-to-consumer initiatives. The packaging redesign includes Birds Eye's full line of 150 products. The Rochester, NY-based company bought regional processor California & Washington Co. last month (Sept. 28 Xtra). Those products, sold throughout the West, keep the C&W brand name.