Wendy's is offering a new line of quick-service salads. The new line-up - Apple Pecan Chicken, BLT Cobb, Spicy Chicken Caesar and Baja - is now available in restaurants nationwide.

The salads are prepared fresh in-store and topped with a variety of premium ingredients not usually found at fast food restaurants: 11 types of greens, including a spring mix; fruits like cranberries and two types of apples; real blue cheese crumbles and shaved Asiago cheese; fresh Pico de Gallo and guacamole; roasted pecans and warm chicken. Then each salad is served with Marzetti's all natural and preservative-free dressings, made especially for Wendy's, including Pomegranate Vinaigrette, Avocado Ranch, Lemon Garlic Caesar and Creamy Red Jalapeno.

The new line-up was first tested in Nashville, TN, Columbus, OH, Salt Lake City, UT and Richmond, VA, earlier this year and produced strong results. Sales of the salads exceeded expectations and customer reviews were highly favorable, spurring Wendy's to launch the salads as a permanent menu item.

"We are raising the bar on salads again," says Ken Calwell, chief marketing officer for Wendy's. "Wendy's new premium salads offer the high-quality ingredients and choice that our customers crave. After a successful round of testing, we are thrilled to bring these new salads to consumers nationwide."

Source: Wendy’s

Nolan Ryan beef adds new retail customers

Nolan Ryan’s Beef has added two new retail customers, Sun Harvest and SuperTarget. Nolan Ryan’s Guaranteed Tender Beef will be a fresh beef supplier for eight Sun Harvest stores in Texas.

Sun Harvest, SuperTarget and Nolan Ryan’s Beef share common values according to Nolan Ryan.

“We focus on providing high quality, fresh beef for families,” said Ryan. “Our beef is raised and processed in Texas and we’re proud to provide Sun Harvest and SuperTarget with our line of beef products, including sausage, patties and sliders.”

According to Doug Varanai, Sun Harvest’s director of meat and seafood, the partnership with Nolan Ryan’s Beef is a good fit for their customers.

“Our mission at Sun Harvest is to provide our customers with the highest quality, best tasting products available. Nolan Ryan Beef supports that mission 100%,” said Varanai. “We look forward to a long lasting partnership with the Nolan Ryan Brand.”

Fifty-one SuperTarget stores in Texas will begin carrying signature beef items from Nolan Ryan’s All-Natural Beef. Target introduced four new smoked sausage items to shoppers with in-store demos and coupons.

Source: Nolan Ryan’s All-Natural Beef

Villa Roma to give away year's worth of sausage in recipe contest

Villa Roma Sausage Co., an Ontario, Calif., fresh Italian Sausage manufacturer, announced a new sausage recipe contest. The grand prize is a one year supply of fresh Villa Roma Sausages.

The contest focuses on easy-to-make recipes suitable for serving when watching sporting events at home. The recipe must only call for fresh and natural ingredients and take less than 45 minutes to prepare. Full details about the contest can be found at http://villaromasausage.com/recipe-contest/.

“The recipe contest is a natural for us. For years, most sausages have been cooked with pasta, but over the last decade grilling sausages for sausage sandwiches have been a common use, especially in Southern California where the climate allows for year-round barbecues,” said Ed Lopes, president of Villa Roma Sausage Company. “In today’s economy, more people than ever are finding it economical to cook and eat at home. To keep things ‘fresh,’ our customers are always looking for new and easy recipes.”

Source: Villa Roma Sausage Co.

Land O'Frost giving away $50,000 in new promotion

Land O'Frost is introducing "Mad Money Mondays." Beginning today, specially marked packages of Land O'Frost lunchmeats will include Mad Money Mondays game pieces that might be worth up to $1,000. Consumers can enter by visiting www.LandOMoms.com and typing in the code on their game piece all week long. Every Monday for 10 weeks Land O'Frost will select 21 winners at random: one $1,000 Grand Prize winner, five $500 First Prize winners and 15 $100 Second Prize winners. The total prize value adds up to $5,000 every week for ten weeks and a total of $50,000 throughout the summer. The first drawing will take place on Monday, July 26, 2010 with the entry period lasting until the last drawing on Monday, September 27, 2010.

"Between summer camps and family vacations, summertime gives a great break for the kids but often times means more work for mom and dad and more stress on the family pocketbook," said Stephan Williams, vice president of marketing for Land O'Frost. "At Land O'Frost we're always looking for ways to make mom and dad's life a little easier and more rewarding. Understanding the old adage 'cash is king,' Mad Money Mondays will help many families this summer."

Source: Land O’Frost

Ruiz Foods announces one winner, launches next Facebook competition

Ruiz Foods announced the winner of its “Skin It To Win It” Facebook competition. The winner, Susan Edman, had her van custom wrapped and got to meet her favorite NASCAR driver, Ryan Newman, prior to NASCAR’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Her husband, Chris, entered her into the competition. He wrote, “My wife survived breast cancer last year and while Ryan Newman has always been her favorite, he was especially helpful during chemo, although he will never know that. Watching him race … was a welcome distraction for her while enduring the weekly poison that ultimately saved her life. Skinning her van would blow her mind – she deserves to have something fun happen to her, as do all those whom cancer has touched …. The entire time she was going through this, she only missed a handful of days from work, and when she was home, she still put 8-10 hours in from home. That includes the recovery time from her bilateral mastectomy and 6 months of treatments after that, plus all of the reconstruction surgeries.”

The company has announced a new Facebook promotion for its Tornados snack line. For “Flavor Challenge 2.0”, the brand’s 130,000-plus fans can submit flavor ideas in eight different categories. The top flavor in each category wins a year’s supply of Tornados and a Tornados-wrapped microwave. One lucky entry may even see his or her face on a Tornados box.

Tornados Facebook fans can submit flavors in any of up to eight ‘flavor categories.’ Categories open for submissions are: Asian Fusion, Backyard BBQ, Kick-It Up (Spicy), American Classics, Teen Snack Attack, Around the World, Early Bird (Breakfast), and Sweet Tooth (Dessert).

Source: Ruiz Foods