Bob Evans Introduces Breakfast Burrito --
The BOBurrito Premiering at $5.99, Only This Winter and Only at Bob Evans
CONTACT:
Chelsea Hamilton
Office: (614) 492-7478
Cell: (614) 542-7755
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- January 16, 2009 -- Good things come in small packages, and the new BOBurrito, now available at all Bob Evans locations, is bursting at the seams with deliciousness! With the choice of the Meat Lovers' or Western variety, customers are sure to enjoy this new twist on the traditional breakfast burrito.
Bob Evans is spreading the word about BOBurritos with a five-stop college campus tour, a new Facebook fan page and a new microsite (www.BOBurrito.com), where customers have shared video Taste-a-monials. You can also find a movie trailer contest at BOBurrito.com, where customers can submit their homemade short-reel odes to BOBurrito.
"Our chefs did a great job with this product -- it's not your average burrito," says Mary Cusick, senior vice president of marketing. "The BOBurrito is a one-of-a-kind product and we're doing a lot this winter -- every way we can -- to get customers excited about it, too."
Quick facts about the Bob Evans BOBurrito:
- The BOBurrito is a flour tortilla stuffed with eggs, shredded Pepper Jack cheese, diced onion, and your choice of fillings: Meat Lovers' (crumbled sausage, diced ham, and bacon pieces) or Western (diced ham, green and red peppers). It's garnished with our new Queso sauce (cheese sauce and Ranchero Picante sauce mixed together), topped with diced tomatoes and scallions.
- Throughout the winter promotion, consumers can add a side of home fries to their BOBurrito for only $.99.
- Only $5.99 and served only this winter, only at Bob Evans.
At www.BOBurrito.com, users will be exposed to a variety of dynamic and interactive Bob Evans BOBurrito content, including the ability to enter to win FREE breakfast every week for a year ($500 value), learn about the BOBurrito movie trailer contest, view customer Taste-a-monial videos, purchase a BOBurrito t-shirt, and have easy access to Bob Evans' new Facebook fan page.
"Social media tools like Facebook and Twitter are how people communicate today. We think it's the best way to reach a new customer base than we're used to, gain some insight into that demographic, and hopefully introduce a new generation to the Home of Homestyle," says Cusick.
Bob Evans will use the Facebook page to interact with their consumers while promoting new products, offers and events, including The 2009 Bob Evans BOBurrito Campus Tour. The Bob Evans BOBurrito Team will be stopping at Ohio University, Ohio State University, Bowling Green State University, Kent State University and Miami University in January to interact with students and pass out free samples of BOBurrito, along with other free promotional items including snow hats, fleece blankets, long-sleeved t-shirts and gift cards. A BOBurrito trailer will roll up to a prime campus location and prepare hot, fresh BOBurritos on the spot. For more information on the tour visit the Facebook page, which can be found through www.BOBurrito.com.
The grassroots outreach to a younger audience is part Bob Evans' thinking, partly the thought of the youth themselves. In a November article in The Columbus Dispatch, "A-Twitter over Youths," Business Reporter Tracy Turner details Bob Evans' plans to target a younger demographic while partnering with Ohio University's student-run public relations firm, ImPRessions. The article also discusses the rise in popularity of social networking sites for food companies and retailers and what the upside is to those companies participating. In the article, Christopher Shanahan, an analyst from Frost & Sullivan who covers Bob Evans, says, "Bob Evans has traditionally attracted an older consumer base, so a younger audience is a tremendous growth avenue for them."
For more information about the BOBurrito, visit www.BOBurrito.com. The Facebook page, which is easily accessible from the microsite, details the College Tour and other Bob Evans information.
About Bob Evans Farms, Inc.
Bob Evans Farms, Inc. (NASDAQ: BOBE) owns and operates full-service restaurants under the Bob Evans and Mimi's Café brand names. At the end of the second fiscal quarter (October 24, 2008), Bob Evans owned and operated 570 family restaurants in 18 states, primarily in the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the United States, while Mimi's Café owned and operated 139 casual restaurants located in 22 states, primarily in California and other western states. Bob Evans Farms, Inc. is also a leading producer and distributor of pork sausage and a variety of complementary homestyle convenience food items under the Bob Evans and Owens brand names. For more information about Bob Evans Farms, Inc., visit the company's Web site at www.bobevans.com.
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