Safeway Launches People's Choice Contest to Determine "America's Most Natural City"

PLEASANTON, Calif., Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Safeway (NYSE: SWY) is tapping into the power of Facebook to determine "America's Most Natural City." The winning city will be awarded with 25 picnic tables, sectioned off from the 305-foot Douglas Fir table that recently broke the Guinness World Record for the World's Longest Picnic Table, which was built in celebration of Safeway's Open Nature™, a new 100 percent natural line of high-quality foods.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110618/SF22351LOGO-b)

Safeway will also donate $20,000 to the winning city's local parks and recreation organization to aid with maintaining their park facilities, which have come under pressure from country-wide budget cuts. Everyone who votes will have the opportunity to win a year's supply of free Open Nature foods that cover every meal of the day from granola and yogurt in the morning to sausage, chicken, and pasta for dinner, to ice cream for dessert. All Open Nature products are free of artificial ingredients, including coloring, flavors, sweeteners, additives, and preservatives.

"When we developed Open Nature, we listened to our customers to help us define what natural should mean when it comes to their food," said Nancy Cota, vice president of innovation, consumer brands at Safeway. "We heard what they were looking for in natural foods, it's now time to hear what they think makes their city the most natural city in the U.S. Whether it's their parks, outdoor activities or their promise to be environmentally friendly, we want to reward that city's commitment to being natural. Local parks and recreation departments across the country told us they need support due to budget cuts and we want to step up and make a difference."

Starting today through Friday, September 16, consumers can visit www.Facebook.com/Safeway and vote for one of 15 pre-selected cities where Safeway and its family of stores have a significant presence in the community. From the nation's capital to the luscious green landscapes of the West, the contenders include: Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tucson and Washington, D.C. Fans can vote up to 100 times, not only for their favorite city to win, but to increase their own odds of winning a year's supply of naturally delicious Open Nature foods. Fans are encouraged to post to their own Facebook wall to urge their friends and neighbors to also vote for their city and list the characteristics that deem their city worthy of the title.

For more information and to join the contest, visit www.Facebook.com/Safeway.

World's Longest Picnic Table: By the Numbers

• 305 feet was the measured length of the World's Longest Picnic Table, which is 5 feet longer than a football field and equivalent to 38 standard picnic tables
• 7,176 feet of FSC Certified Douglas Fir wood with a soy-based eco-sealant providing a green alternative to preserving the tables for outside wear and tear
• It took 4 people 10 days to build the World's Longest Picnic Table
• The World's Longest Picnic Table weighs more than 11,304 lbs
• This table breaks the previous Guinness World Record (248 feet, 2 inches) set in New Orleans, October 2009
• 405 people sat around the World's Longest Picnic Table on National Picnic Day, June 18^th, 2011 on the Marina Green, in San Francisco, CA
• 1 city will receive 25 tables sectioned off from the World's Longest Picnic Table

About Safeway www.Safeway.com

Safeway Inc. is a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, based on sales. The company operates 1,694 stores in the United States and western Canada and had annual sales of $41.1 billion in 2010. The company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SWY. The Open Nature line is an addition to the Safeway portfolio of health and wellness brands, joining O Organics™ and Eating Right®.

Follow Safeway Open Nature on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Safeway and connect with Safeway Open Nature on Facebook on http://www.facebook.com/Safeway

SOURCE Safeway Inc.