Birds Eye® Declares "It's Always Vegetable Season™" and Unveils Its "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™" Campaign

MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J., Sept. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Birds Eye®, a portfolio brand of Pinnacle Foods Group, is on a mission to help America "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™" and announced today the launch of its new campaign with a kick-off event in New York City's Union Square, featuring an unexpected vegetable farm in the snow. The campaign will inspire people to appreciate the wonder of vegetables and enable them with products, recipes and solutions to enjoy delicious Birds Eye vegetables more often. Birds Eye also today reaffirmed its commitment to help Feed Kids Better by announcing a donation of Birds Eye vegetables for up to one million meals in partnership with Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry® Campaign, a national effort to end childhood hunger in America.

Joined by Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Cornell Researcher Dr. Brian Wansink and representatives from Share Our Strength, Birds Eye hosted an experiential snow-covered vegetable farm in Union Square, complete with live cooking demonstrations, giveaways and new insights on inspiring vegetable wonder among children. The Birds Eye vegetable snow farm, created in the center of one of the country's most popular fresh farmer's markets, is meant to showcase that with Birds Eye, "It's Always Vegetable Season™" because Birds Eye vegetables are picked at the peak of freshness and flash-frozen, making them convenient, flavorful and available any time, any place.

Birds Eye also announced today its strategic partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and its MyPlate dietary guidelines, helping to support the USDA's September kick-off of the "Make Half Your Plate Fruits and Vegetables" consumer education initiative. "Birds Eye is a great partner of the MyPlate program and we appreciate both the research and consumer education they are dedicating to help Americans add vegetables to build a healthy plate," said Robert Post, deputy director of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.

Samuelsson, a known advocate for the new USDA MyPlate initiative, unveiled his ideal veggie-powered plate and demonstrated a new recipe for Birds Eye Vegetable Quinoa Pilaf.  "As a chef and someone who passionately believes in the wonder of vegetables, together with Birds Eye, I want to inspire America to bring vegetables back to the center of the plate – one beautiful and flavorful meal at a time," said Samuelsson, award-winning chef and cookbook author. "Vegetables are a gift that you can give your family every day – and it's easier and faster than many realize to make delicious veggie-powered meals, especially with frozen vegetables."  

Samuelsson also announced the new Birds Eye "My Perfect Veggie-Powered Plate" Facebook application. The application allows people to create and share their perfect meal – starting with vegetables.  For every veggie-powered plate created on Facebook, Birds Eye will donate vegetables for 10 meals as a part of its Feed Kids Better initiative with Share Our Strength (up to 1 million meals through September 2012)*.

Birds Eye's Commitment to Feed Kids Better

As part of the brand's ongoing mission to Feed Kids Better, Birds Eye also unveiled new kid-focused research findings by Dr. Wansink, renowned food psychologist and one of the nation's leading experts in eating behaviors.

Dr. Wansink, author of Mindless Eating and Director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, shared the powerful impact vegetables have on kids and meals. Meals with vegetables are rated as more complete, tastier and nutritious than meals without vegetables. And, not only is it rated as a better meal, vegetables make a hero out of mom(i).

There couldn't be a better time to unearth new approaches to help solve the low intake of vegetables in this country. "At Birds Eye, we want more people – especially kids – to 'Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™' because they are amazing and we believe that everyone has the right to enjoy vegetables any time, any place because every day should be vegetable season," said Rod Troni, vice president of marketing for Birds Eye. "Our mission is to inspire and enable people to eat and enjoy vegetables because they want to, not because they have to, which is why we are partnering with key food and behavior experts and charities that share Birds Eye's values to really make a difference."

The "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™" campaign is part of a multimillion-dollar integrated marketing effort led by TBWA\Chiat\Day for advertising, Optimedia for media, Weber Shandwick for public relations and social media and Tenthwave for digital assets.

Visit www.facebook.com/birdseyevegetables to create your perfect veggie-powered plate and find serving ideas, tips and tools to help make vegetables the star of the plate. At Birds Eye, It's Always Vegetable Season™.

*From September 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. Birds Eye will make a donation of up to 250,000 pounds of vegetables (net weight).

(i) Based on research conducted by Cornell University Professor and author of the bestselling book "Mindless Eating" Brian Wansink PhD

About Birds Eye

Birds Eye® unlocks the wonder of vegetables and makes them accessible and enjoyable to everyone, everyday. Using vegetables picked and frozen at their peak of freshness, Birds Eye® helps Americans make vegetables a meaningful part of everyday life. Providing a range of tasty and exciting solutions that make eating vegetables a memorable taste experience, Birds Eye® has something for everyone: with pure and simple vegetables under the Birds Eye®, C&W®, Freshlike® and McKenzie's® brand names; Birds Eye Steamfresh® vegetables and vegetable rich blends; and Birds Eye Voila!® complete frozen meals. For more information on Birds Eye® visit www.birdseye.com or www.facebook.com/BirdsEyeVegetables

About Pinnacle Foods Group LLC

Millions of times a day in more than 85% of American households, consumers reach for Pinnacle Foods brands.  We are a leading producer, marketer and distributor of high-quality branded food products, which have been trusted household names for decades.  Headquartered in Mountain Lakes, NJ, our business employs more than 4,500 people in North America. We are a leader in the shelf stable and frozen foods segments and our brands hold the #1 or #2 market position in 8 out of 12 major category segments in which they compete. Our Duncan Hines Grocery Division manages brands such as Duncan Hines® baking mixes and frostings, Vlasic® pickles, peppers, and relish, Mrs. Butterworth's® and Log Cabin® syrups, Armour® canned meats, Nalley® and Brooks® chili and chili ingredients, and Open Pit® barbecue sauces. Our Birds Eye Frozen Division manages brands such as Birds Eye® vegetables, Birds Eye Steamfresh®, C&W®, McKenzie's® and Freshlike® vegetables, Birds Eye Voila!® meals, Aunt Jemima® frozen breakfasts, Swanson® and Hungry-Man® dinners and entrees, Van de Kamp's® and Mrs. Paul's® seafood, Lender's® bagels and Celeste® frozen pizza. Our Specialty Food group manages Tim's Cascade Snacks®, Hawaiian™ Kettle Style Potato Chips Snyder of Berlin® and Husman's® in addition to our food service and private label businesses. Further information is available at www.pinnaclefoods.com.

About Share Our Strength

Share Our Strength®, a national nonprofit, is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives.  Through its No Kid Hungry® Campaign—a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015—Share Our Strength ensures children in need are enrolled in effective federal nutrition programs; invests in community organizations fighting hunger; teaches families how to cook healthy, affordable meals; and builds public-private partnerships to end childhood hunger, at the state and city level. Working closely with the culinary industry and relying on the strength of its volunteers, Share Our Strength hosts innovative culinary fundraising events and develops pioneering cause marketing campaigns that support No Kid Hungry. Visit Strength.org to get involved.

SOURCE Pinnacle Foods Group LLC