A.M.S Exotic reaches out to coupon clippers

A.M.S. Exotic LLC plans to launch the company’s first coupon campaign next month in four Western states.
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To increase retail sales of its Earth Exotic brand of fresh and cooked produce, A.M.S. Exotic LLC, Los Angeles, plans to launch the company’s first coupon campaign next month in four Western states, said Scott Lehmann, director of sales and marketing.

“We are trying those areas first to get a feel for the redemption,” Lehmann said. “If it works out well, we plan to expand to the Midwest and the East.”

The coupons will first appear June 8 in pre-printed free-standing inserts in Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., newspapers, Lehmann said. The following Sunday, June 15, the inserts will appear in Southern California newspapers. The campaign moves June 22 into the Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., markets. In the five regions, a total of 7.7 million coupons will be distributed, Lehmann said.

In addition to its foodservice inventory, A.M.S. Exotic, a leader in the baby vegetable category, offers to retailers 19 commodities under its Earth Exotic Fresh Vegetable line and 10 other items in the Earth Exotic Cooked Vegetable line. The coupons will be redeemable for all of the company’s retail items, Lehmann said.

The California company retained CMS Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., to serve as agent for A.M.S Exotic in coordinating the coupon transactions.

A.M.S. Exotic elected to go with the free-standing insert approach, Lehmann said, because it permits the company to focus on specific publications.

The promotion will be expensive because handling, postage and other fees will increase the cost well above the 50-cent value for each redeemed coupon, he said.

“That’s why we decided to limit where we’re doing it in order to get a better feel for the costs,” Lehmann said.

A.M.S. Exotic is the first company specializing in the baby vegetable category to offer couponing via free-standing inserts at the retail level, Lehmann said.