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Central Penn Business Journal

By Olenchek, Christina

After becoming a household name among shoppers on the East Coast, Turkey Hill Dairy Inc. is pushing west to find new customers.

The Manor Township company is taking its signature ice cream and iced tea products into the Pittsburgh and eastern Ohio markets. The move gives Turkey Hill the opportunity to attract new devotees and the challenge of making its Lancaster County cachet important to consumers outside the midstate.

"We want to make people aware that there's something new in town," said Melissa Mattilio, the company's consumer marketing manager.

Turkey Hill's traditional market stretched south from Maine to North Carolina but not farther west than Buffalo, N.Y. That changed in 2005, when the dairy began partnering with several retailers in the Pittsburgh area, including Foodland, Shop 'n Save and Wal-Mart.

Breaking into the Pittsburgh market allowed Turkey Hill to achieve its long-standing goal of having its products available statewide, Mattilio said. Many consumers in western Pennsylvania knew of the products and wanted them available in their backyards.

The expansion into eastern Ohio came because of the areas close connections to Pittsburgh. The dairy started selling its products at Tops Markets locations in Cleveland last year. It broke into the Columbus market in March, working with the Kroger supermarket chain. Turkey Hill is owned by a Kroger Co. subsidiary.

Convincing larger supermarket chains to add a product to its offerings often involves lobbying at two levels, said Bob Fell of Pavone, a Harrisburg-based marketing firm that works with Turkey Hill. A food company must persuade a chain's corporate management to add the product to a list of items available to individual stores. The company then must convince store managers to actually put the product on the shelves.

The process among smaller grocers involves a lot of individual meetings and personal lobbying. "It's a relationship thing," said Fell, partner and director of strategy and planning with Pavone.

Turkey Hill and other companies often use food brokers who can build rapport with grocery-store chains and serve as liaisons, Mattilio said.

All of Turkey Hill's products are made at its plant in Lancaster County. The company has added some salespeople to serve the new markets, but no new production employees have been added specifically because of the expansion, Mattilio said. Turkey Hill employs about 600 people.

The company is using various marketing strategies to make its products more recognizable in its new markets, including billboard, television and radio ads. Tasting sessions have been held at public events such as concerts, athletic competitions and rib cook-offs. These sessions are vital because of the nature of Turkey Hill's products, Fell said.

"We wanted to get the product into people's hands," he said. "Ice cream is something that you have to experience."

One of the strongest appeals of Turkey Hill's products is their connection to Lancaster County, revered for its agricultural heritage and culture. That tie is so close that the company's products proudly state that they're "Imported from Lancaster County." But that tie might not have any effect on people unfamiliar with the county, Fell said. As it expands west, the company's job has consisted of selling the product and selling Lancaster County. To celebrate its 75th anniversary this year, the company launched a sweepstakes to give away pieces of Lancaster County. Prizes include quilts, Amish clothing, a helicopter tour of the county and the chance to be a Turkey Hill employee for a day. So far, more than 400,000 people have entered the sweepstakes.

"The more we help to define Lancaster County as a real place, the more we can strengthen that emotional connection," Fell said.

Turkey Hill is pleased with its progress in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, Mattilio said. Sales of the company's ice cream have quadrupled in Pittsburgh since the company entered the market. Ice cream sales have gone up sevenfold in Cleveland.

Turkey Hill does not have any specific plans to expand farther, Mattilio said. But she acknowledged that a next logical step might be to continue partnering with Kroger and move into the Detroit market.

"It's important for us to maintain the quality. We don't want to overdo it," she said. "...We like to go slow and get everything right."

Copyright Journal Publications Inc. Aug 18, 2006

(c) 2006 Central Penn Business Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.