"I think the judges were pleasantly surprised to learn that the new Shadow Hills snacks had been launched by a convenience store chain,bCrLf said Kathie [image-nocss] Canning, editor in chief of Private Label Buyer. "Outside the foodservice arena, the convenience store sector really has not been known for private-label innovation. ampm won them over with the bold banding tied to each particular product, the eye-catching logo design and the overall visual appeal of the packaging.bCrLf
Canning also shares some of the judge's comments. One judge said, "The color and the mountains help to differentiate the line.bCrLf Another said, "I like the bold bands as color differentiators.bCrLf Another judge said, "It's upscale, not something we'd expect to see in a c-store.bCrLf
Dozens of retail companies entered the competition, nominating 300-plus different products. The judges selected 18 winning products/product lines across both food and nonfood categories. All packaging was judged on its appearance, its functionality and how well it achieved objectives set by the retailer.
Jon Bratta, director of proprietary brands for ampm, said, "We spent a great deal of time working on different designs that would connect with ampm's snack customers, and we are glad to see that the design we worked so hard on connected with PL Buyer's judges. We have just launched these products, and initial sales would seem to validate the judges' opinions of the brand, as Shadow Hills products are selling very well, thus far.bCrLf
The ampm brand was founded in 1978 in Southern California by ARCO, which was acquired by BP in 2000. ARCO-branded ampm stores are currently found in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Arizona; BP-branded ampm stores are located in Chicago, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Atlanta. There are also more than 2,000 ampm stores in Brazil, Japan and Mexico. BP markets more than 15 billion gallons of gasoline every year to U.S. consumers through 13,000 retail outlets. BP is the single, global brand formed by the combination of the former British Petroleum, Amoco Corporation, Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), ARAL and Burmah Castrol.
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