Safeway Breaks World Record During Open Nature Celebration

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June 21, 2011

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway built a picnic table spanning more than the length of a football field as part of its Open Nature private label brand celebration.

The feat set a new world record as determined by a Guinness World Records official. The record was set at 12:45 p.m. PST on June 18, 2011 with the table measuring a total of 305-feet.

As part of the day’s events, Food Network Chef Tyler Florence demonstrated recipes for picnic guests using a variety of Safeway's Open Nature 100 percent natural line of foods, which was launched in March. (For more on this see “Safeway Quietly Expands Open Nature Private Label Line.” )

The day’s menu included Open Nature’s Smoked Andouille Sausage with Crisp Cabbage Slaw made with Open Nature Blush Dressing, the Ultimate Open Nature barbecued Chicken and Ribs accompanies by Open Nature Summertime Potato Salad, a fresh broccoli salad with Open Nature Balsamic Dressing and fresh watermelon. Open Nature Parfaits featured assorted ice creams and toppings, including nuts, fresh berries and shaved chocolate.

"It was astounding to see so many people come together around a single table to enjoy a meal made with our Open Nature products," said Mike Minasi, president of marketing for Safeway. "Our customers have been asking for a natural product line and Safeway delivered, setting a very high standard for what natural should mean -- 100 percent natural, 100 percent real. We are so proud to roll this new brand out to our shoppers and we knew that a giant picnic on National Picnic Day was the perfect way to do it."

The FDA does not regulate the word “natural,” and the term's inclusion on food packaging has left many consumers skeptical of the claim, according to Safeway. Safeway said it developed the Open Nature product line to provide customers with products made with ingredients from natural sources, containing nothing artificial.

Guests at the National Picnic Day event included Safeway shoppers, employees, San Francisco Bay Area bloggers and others who won a seat at the table through an @Safeway #OpenNature Re-Tweet-to-Win contest on Twitter and through a separate sweepstakes on Safeway's Facebook page the week before the event.

Other facts about the world’s longest picnic table:

• It is 5 feet longer than a football field and equivalent to 38 standard picnic tables;
• 7,176 feet of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified Douglas Fir wood and 1,032 bolts were used to construct the table;
• It took four people 10 days to build it;
• The table weighs more than 11,304 lbs;
• It breaks the previous Guinness World Record (248 feet, 2 inches) set in New Orleans in 2009;
• 405 people sat around the World's Longest Picnic Table at one time.

SBD Views: This is an example of the kind of innovation in consumer promotion and marketing that we believe will drive store brands market penetration to the next level. -- John Failla for Store Brands Decisions.

Read These Related Articles:

• Safeway Reinforces Commitment to Health and Wellness

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