Meals.com Inc., a subsidiary of Coinstar (Nasdaq:CSTR), yesterday announced agreements with four new consumer product manufacturers to appear throughout its network of branded (www.meals.com) and private label Web sites.
Meals.com offers manufacturers a more effective way to position and promote their products to consumers in the context of their shopping decisions.
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The new clients to appear on the Meals.com network are:
C&H Sugar Company Inc. Founded in 1906, C&H Sugar is the leading refiner of pure cane sugars. Located in Crockett, Calif., C&H Sugar produces the following pure cane sugars: granulated, powdered, golden brown, dark brown, cubes, washed raw, as well as industrial and specialty sugars.
Contadina. The Contadina brand is recognized for its superior quality and the Freshest Ideas in Italian Cooking. Contadina also offers a full line of great tasting and easy to use tomato products, including diced, paste, sauce, stewed and whole tomatoes. The $100 million Contadina business now includes pizza sauce and bread crumbs.
Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc. Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, Inc.
(NNM:DRYR) manufactures and distributes a full spectrum of premium and superpremium ice creams. The Company’s products are marketed under the Dreyer’s brand name throughout the western states and Texas, and under the Edy’s name throughout the remainder of the United States. Dreyer’s (together with Edy’s) is the best selling brand of packaged ice cream in the country. Internationally, the Dreyer’s brand extends to select markets in the Far East and the Edy’s brand to the Caribbean and South America. Brands currently manufactured and distributed by Dreyer’s include Grand, Grand Light, Homemade, Dreamery, Whole Fruit Sorbet, M&M/Mars, Starbucks, Godiva and Healthy Choice.
Mrs. Smith’s Bakeries Inc. Mrs. Smith’s Bakeries Inc. markets a full line of fresh and frozen branded baked foods to retail, in-store bakery, foodservice and vending customers nationwide. The company’s products are sold under brand names such as Mrs. Smith’s, European Bakers, Our Special Touch, Danish Kitchen, Stilwell, Mrs. Freshley’s, Pet-Ritz, Oronoque Orchards and Pour-A-Quiche.
“These are all top flight products and brands that bring quality and value to consumers,” said Peter Barbaresi, executive vice president of sales at Meals.com. “The Meals.com network provides these manufacturers with a way to more effectively connect with consumers online. At the same time, consumers using our network of Web sites receive new ideas on how to use these products in their everyday cooking, making meal time more enjoyable, and saving time and money.”
Meals.com features more than 10,000 recipes that can be sorted by cooking method or cuisine, detailed nutritional information, meal planning tools to help organize and simplify cooking and grocery shopping, and online recipe boxes that can be shared with family and friends. In addition to its branded site (www.meals.com), Meals.com has agreements or letters of intent to provide co-branded sites to supermarket retailers representing nearly 7,000 stores with an estimated 40 million customers, as well as a growing list of portals and women’s Web sites. Meals.com also powers in-store technologies, such as the Shopper, a Web access terminal that provides consumers with personalized offers and relevant information. Shopper is fully deployed in the Ukrop’s chain of supermarkets in Virginia.
“Look at the manufacturers and brands that have joined the Meals.com network in just the last month. In addition to C&H Sugar, Contadina, Dreyer’s and Mrs. Smiths, companies like Nestle, Smucker, Campbell’s Soup, Unilever Bestfoods, and many others are now on board,” continued Barbaresi. “Meals.com is providing these companies with a way to reach consumers on the Internet that makes the most of their advertising and marketing dollars.”
About Meals.com
Meals.com Inc. connects consumers, grocery stores and manufacturers through online and in-store technologies that provide shoppers with relevant information and special offers based on their personal preferences. Meals.com is a subsidiary of Coinstar Inc. (Nasdaq:CSTR), a coin counting and e-services company that has relationships with more than 8,000 U.S. supermarkets.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including Meals.com’s future performance with respect to customer contracts. Actual results could differ materially from the results identified or implied in any forward-looking statement discussed herein. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, Meals.com’s ability to execute on its contracts, and its ability to attract and retain retailers, as well as the risks that are more fully described under the caption “Risk Factors” included in the most recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Coinstar Inc.
