Eckrich® Announces New Kirk Herbstreit "Ultimate Tailgate" Smoked Sausage

LISLE, Ill., Sept. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Eckrich, a part of the John Morrell Food Group, a division of Smithfield Foods, announced today a new line of smoked sausage, Kirk Herbstreit "Ultimate Tailgate".  The new products feature the name and likeness of Emmy-winning college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who has been a spokesperson for Eckrich since 2008.

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The new rope and links smoked sausage items, now available for a limited time only at your local grocer, will be supported by a full marketing effort featuring Herbstreit including in-store point of sale, a new TV commercial, radio spots, a consumer sweepstakes and digital elements including website integration on Eckrich.com and social media including the Eckrich Facebook page and Twitter account.  It's all in time for the start of the 2013-14 college football season which kicked off this past weekend.

A highlight of the product launch will be a consumer-driven sweepstakes allowing four lucky fans to win the "Ultimate Tailgate".  The VIP tailgate will also allow the fans a chance to meet Herbstreit in Pasadena, California in January.  The promotion will be hosted on the Eckrich Facebook page.

A popular and trusted voice of college football, Herbstreit will continue to reach millions of college football fans this fall and winter through his broadcasting work on ESPN College Gameday and the ABC prime time game of the week. In 2010 and 2011 Herbstreit won the Sports Emmy Award for television's Best Studio Analyst, recognizing Herbstreit as the best studio analyst for all sports.

"I'm excited about the new Eckrich 'Ultimate Tailgate' products," said Herbstreit.  I've partnered with Eckrich for a long time now and they continue to align with values I believe in, including families and enriching the lives of others."

The new Eckrich Kirk Herbstreit "Ultimate Tailgate" items are now available in Original Natural Casing Rope Smoked Sausage and Cheddar Smoked Sausage Links.

"Kirk has been a great ambassador for Eckrich for the past five years, and we are excited for him to endorse this new line of tailgating products within our portfolio," said Chuck Gitkin, vice president, marketing, innovation and R&D for the John Morrell Food Group. "We're proud to do this with Kirk and believe that his excitement and connection with college football fans will really resonate with our consumers."

Fans are encouraged to visit www.facebook.com/EckrichMeats  to learn more about the products and enter the sweepstakes.

About John Morrell Food Group 
With over a century and a half of experience, John Morrell Food Group brands have become respected and well known for providing premium-quality meat products to families across the United States. With products ranging from lunchmeat and franks to smoked sausage, bacon and pepperoni, the John Morrell Food Group is an important part of consumers' mealtimes. The John Morrell Food Group offers several national and regional brands including Armour^®, Eckrich^®, John Morrell^®, Curly's^®, Patrick Cudahy^®, Carando^®, Healthy Ones^®, Margherita^® Kretschmar^® and LunchMakers^®.

About Eckrich
Founded by Peter Eckrich in 1894, Eckrich has a rich heritage starting from a small meat market in Fort Wayne, Ind. Through it all, Eckrich meats have been recognized for their great taste and supreme quality, craftsmanship, care and pride. For more information, visit www.eckrich.com.

About Operation Homefront
A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers with nationwide coverage, and has met more than 590,000 needs since 2002. A four-star rated charity by watchdog Charity Navigator, nationally, 94 percent of total revenue donated to Operation Homefront goes directly to assist service members. More information is available at www.operationhomefront.net.

SOURCE Eckrich