European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 a the stars and stripes sunday August 15,1990business news is in at commissary Randy Mcclain financial writer we Brucken West Germany a Frozen diet dinners Are one of the. Fastest growing sales items in military supermarkets in Europe and a handful of food companies is battling to Cash in on the craze. With military shoppers counting calories dodging High cholesterol and turning their noses up at fat manufacturers arc lobbying for even More healthful Frozen foods to be allowed into the military a stores. And commissary officials Are responding. A the military is not just talking nutrition they re buying it a said Richard Walker the chief of Murchan dising for army supermarkets in Europe. In july a joint army and air Force commissary selection Board approved three new weight watchers meals for commissary system inventories and More such meals Are Likely to be added. Right now.2.4 Low calorie or Low Salt products ranging from stuffed Turkey breast to Zucchini lasagna Are in military Frozen foods sections. Each has less than 300 calories per serving and several claim to be Low in cholesterol and fat As Well. A a it a obvious that nutritional foods arc Selling right now and we think we re making a greater Ellort to Stock them we have More today than in the past a or Walker said. Quot this is not a fad. Nutritional foods Are Here to stay. We All want to live As Jong As we can Quot he said. In  states diet dinners became the biggest Selling Frozen food in military supermarkets with $23.7 million in sales for the year ending Jan 30. Diet dinners and other meals Low in calories fat sodium and cholesterol now account for More sales in stateside commissaries than Frozen seafood and Frozen pizza the commissary systems auditors say. Three manufacturers of healthful Frozen meals seem to be the biggest beneficiaries of the military consumer a increased focus on fitness. The firms pushing hardest to sell More products to the army and air Force Are healthy Choice dinners manufactured by con Agra Frozen foods of Omaha neb., which makes healthy Choice dinners stouter foods of Solon Ohio which provides right course and lean cuisine meals and food ways National inc. Of Boise Idaho which distributes weight watchers entrees and desserts. Indications Are that All three companies sales Are on the increase. Recent statistics from one of the air forces main food depots in Kaiserslautern West Germany shows that customer demand for the seven healthy Choice dinners distributed in overseas stores has More than doubled since november meanwhile six lean cuisine entrees and two weight watchers products have also seen sales gains in the neighbourhood of 40 percent Frozen foods what do we eat a rundown of sortie of the most popular prepared Frozen foods said in . Commissaries noveitie5. Pc silos Etc. Source military audits of Market information inc. When commissary shipping reports from november 1989 and april 1990 Ore compared said Diana Brown commissary management specialist with the air forces Central european Region. European distributors for the three dominant companies declined to provide exact sales figures for their products but two of the firms said lean cuisine has been running no. I in Europe in recent months followed by healthy Choice dinners and then weight watchers. T that a a big difference from military commissaries in the United states where weight watchers with 36 percent of the Market and lean cuisine with 34.5 percent of the Market Are running neck and neck. Healthy Choice dinners were far behind with a 7.6 percent share for the year As a whole but auditors who keep track of sales in . Commissaries say the firm has been getting stronger in recent months. One problem that May prevent total sales of Frozen diet meals in Europe from Ever Matching those in the United states though is a limited amount of Freezer space and storage area at commissaries in Europe when compared with supermarkets Back Home. Don Nelson the military sales manager for stouter foods said his company has More than two dozen lean cuisine entrees in . Commissaries. But in Europe the company has gotten clearance to sell Only six meals. Healthy Choice has seven dinners on the shelf in Europe while weight watchers has seven entrees and desserts. Stouter s right course which was cleared for Sale Only recently plans to distribute four of its eight dinners overseas. Harold Combs a food broker who works with ,. A. A amps Wes e3cnhcr weight watchers said a company a sates Tan be Hurt when commissary officials wont allow Chough differ Cut entrees to be sold so that shoppers have a variety of products from which to choose. A you need to offer people a variable menu Quot he said. Quot a family does no to want to eat the same thing every  Combs said weight watchers is still Short of where it would like to be in Europe even though he a pleased that army and air Force officials cleared the Way for three new meals to be sold starting in late july. With the addition of stuffed Turkey Chicken enchiladas and a Frozen potato stuffed with Broccoli and cheese Combs figures weight watchers military sales Are sure to grow in the coming months. But the firms biggest competitors Are also Likely to push for additional items to be stocked. A bringing new items into the system is our Lifeblood Quot said Nelson of stouter foods. Brown said she expects a growing number of diet and health oriented Frozen dinners to win approval for Sale in the future even if it Means that some Standard to dinners that done to have a nutritional Edge get bumped. A in All probability Well have More of these items in the future and Well make room for them a she said. Walker said he expects Frozen diet meals to remain popular. A at one Lime a lot of the nutritional foods did no to have any taste. Now we be come a Long Way with technology and they taste great a he said. Stars co stars and stripes bookstores v. I a Eva t i i 1 a Milf of j i u y v 0 1/ i \ 5 \ quote. A co it 30 co it z o co past Midnight something happens to time that fragile concept we employ to order our 31 sense of reality. It bends stretches turns Back or snaps and sometimes reality snaps with it. 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