May 25, 2005

Mann Packing ReLaunches Integrated Content Partnership with Allrecipes.com

Top Community Food Site Home to Over 10 Million Home Cooks

Salinas, CA, May 25, 2005 — Due to the tremendous success of last year’s promotion, Mann Packing Company, the category leader in fresh-cut vegetables, is teaming up again with the world’s leading community food site, Allrecipes.com to provide fresh, fast and family friendly meal ideas to busy moms who appreciate the convenience and great taste of Mann’s fresh vegetables. As part of the promotion, Mann is a “Best Brand Partner” with its own integrated micro site: http://manns.allrecipes.com, branded recipes, banner ads targeted by ingredient and occasion, and newsletter sponsorships. Mann has extended the promotion to an eight month commitment, starting May 25, 2005 through next year’s Superbowl.

Joe Nucci, president and CEO at Mann, comments, “We believed early on that the Internet was going to be a powerful medium in which to reach consumers. Visitors to Allrecipes.com have demographics and psychographics immensely similar to the fresh-cut vegetable consumer. They are asking themselves at four o'clock in the afternoon: ‘What’s for dinner?’ and turning more and more to the Internet to find the answer. With over 77 percent of Allrecipes audience shopping for groceries on the same day as their visit to the site, we knew Allrecipes.com was the right place to create excitement and purchase intent for our products.”

Allrecipes.com boasts over four million unique visitors monthly. Of those 77% percent are female and is their household primary grocery decision maker. Seventy two percent are between the ages of 25-54 and have an annual income of $50,000 or more. A whopping 81 percent have some college education.

Last year’s three month promotion on allrecipes.com yielded Mann over 30 million advertising impressions. Allrecipes highly engaged audience interacted nearly 170,000 times with Mann-related content. Best of all, over 1,400 distinct Allrecipes users placed a total of 1,500 Mann’s branded recipes into their personal recipe boxes.

Vicky St.Geme, Mann’s director of retail marketing, comments, “This year’s program is all about sustainability. It takes time and multiple impressions to build brand recognition and loyalty. We will continue to do spot and seasonal promotions, especially at store level, but by having a longer presence on Allrecipes, we can really start building a relationship with our customers and drive more sales towards the category.”

As a featured “Best Brand Partner” Mann will have a monthly micro site within Allrecipes showcasing Mann’s seasonal recipes, usage ideas and product information. In addition, Mann will sponsor newsletters, seasonal advice areas (such as “Back to School”) and ingredient sponsorships.

St. Geme continues, “One strength of using the Internet is its real-time measurability. We had a 32 percent lift in emails to our consumer center during last year’s campaign so we could quickly measure the response. Allrecipes has great tools in place. Users have personal recipe boxes where they can save and store our recipes, which we can measure, and they can also add us to a shopping list, which is one of the strongest indicators that our message will result in a sale.”

Ranked just behind foodtv.com and kraft.com, the allrecipes.com site has grown strictly on word of mouth and return visits by its loyal audience of everyday home cooks. Today it has more than 28,000 recipes and one million registered members.

One popular feature allows users to rate and review recipes. Here’s what one had to say about Mann’s Broccoli Cole Slaw Home Fries:

“I used this as a side dish to accompany simple grilled chicken, and boy was it ever a winner. I love home fried potatoes and the idea of putting them together with the broccoli slaw mix was fine with me because I love that too. YUMMY! Thanks Mann’s!”

It’s no secret that advertisers are using a variety of methods to grab consumers’ attention these days and many are turning towards the Internet. A May 2005 Forrester report indicated that almost half of all marketers plan to increase online ad spending by decreasing spending in other channels. 84 percent plan to increase their online budgets in 2005, with an average increase of 25 percent from 2004.

According to Forrester, $14.6 billion will be spent on Internet advertising in 2005, a 6 percent increase over 2004. Experts agree that online advertising offers not just interactivity but an effective way to deliver timely and relevant product messaging in a manner that’s both permissive and engaging.

For more information visit www.allrecipes.com or www.broccoli.com.

About Allrecipes
Allrecipes, the world’s largest social network of food and entertaining enthusiasts, receives more than 35 million annual visits from users who share and download recipes, reviews, photos, personal profiles, and meal ideas. For more than 10 years, the Seattle-based site has served as a dynamic, indispensable resource for cooks of all skill levels seeking trusted recipes, entertaining ideas, everyday and holiday meal solutions, practical cooking tips and food advice. As the fastest growing independent food Internet site, and part of the Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. food and entertainment division, Allrecipes provides insights into the kitchens and cooking passions of home cooks everywhere.