A & P, AND OTHERS TO INCREASE KOSHER

New and Improved Kosher Selection Now Certified for Passover and Beyond at Neighborhood A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaum’s and Food Emporium Stores

Special Passover Program Kicks Off New Initiative to Significantly Boost Kosher Product Variety and Quality Across Tri-State Area A&P Stores

MONTVALE, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (A&P, OTC: GAPTQ) today announced a major new initiative to expand its Kosher product offerings, kicking off with a greatly enhanced and certified selection of essentials for the Passover holiday season. From now through April 28, Passover shoppers at select A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaum’s and Food Emporium stores serving Jewish communities throughout the tri-state area will find new and improved Kosher grocery selections for all their holiday shopping needs.

“Kosher families will have more choices and better shopping opportunities for Passover and beyond. Receiving certification and designating a point person to oversee all of A&P’s Kosher operations demonstrates how serious A&P’s leadership is about meeting the needs of its Jewish customers and the community.”

A&P recently took several important steps to ramp up its commitment to improving the variety and quality of its Kosher deli, dairy, meat, seafood and grocery products, including:

* Hiring Barry Eizik as Kosher Category Manager in a newly created role. With more than thirty years of experience in the Kosher food industry, Eizik is a qualified expert living in the Jewish community and responsible for ensuring that the community’s needs are consistently met with the highest quality and service at their local A&P grocery stores.
* Receiving certification from KOF-K Kosher supervision, one of the foremost Kosher certification agencies in the United States, for the sale of all chometz products supplied by A&P’s primary distributor. This certification was done with the approval and endorsement of two prominent community leaders, Rabbi Belsky and Rabbi Teitz. A&P customers will now be able to buy all chometz products immediately after Passover with confidence that the chometz products were sold in an appropriate manner.
* Conducting special advertising and promotional campaigns in select stores. A&P is executing additional community outreach and in-store marketing campaigns throughout the Long Island, Westchester County, Rockland County, northern New Jersey and New York City metropolitan areas. Ads are now running in local Jewish newspapers and online media, and shoppers can find coupons in the weekly circular and targeted emails for extra savings on popular Passover items. Select stores also feature large signage and shopper-friendly displays of featured Kosher offerings to improve the shopping experience.

“A&P’s renewed commitment to improving the variety and quality of its Kosher products is terrific for our community,” said Barry Eizik, Kosher Category Manager at A&P. “Kosher families will have more choices and better shopping opportunities for Passover and beyond. Receiving certification and designating a point person to oversee all of A&P’s Kosher operations demonstrates how serious A&P’s leadership is about meeting the needs of its Jewish customers and the community.”

Enhanced Kosher offerings for Passover at select A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaum’s and Food Emporium stores include Kosher prepared foods and deli meats such as Fresh Kugels, Soufflés & Soups from Classic, Garden lites and Mauzone; Golan Deli Meats; and Acme smoked salmon. A&P also launched a brand new kosher meat program featuring chopped chuck, first cut premium brisket and Empire chicken. Various stores will also offer an extensive assortment of favorite grocery items in shopper-friendly displays, ranging from staples like matzos, macaroons, Kadeem grape juice and Tabachnick soups – to Streit’s potato latkes, Matzo ball mix, Joyva candy, as well as cleaning products such as Wieman silver polish.

Following Passover, A&P will continue to enhance and expand the variety of its Kosher offerings throughout the year to include more fresh meat, fresh poultry, fresh deli, fresh dairy and fresh baked goods, working with both off-site suppliers and in-store bakeries and butchers.

John Mortiz, Senior Vice President of Marketing at A&P, added: “This initiative reflects our renewed commitment to becoming the Store of the Neighborhood for all of our customers who keep Kosher. With our enhanced assortment of Kosher product offerings, we hope to deepen our legacy of being more than just a store for the highest quality products at great prices – but also being a trusted friend, neighbor and part of the Jewish communities we proudly serve.”

About A&P

Founded in 1859, A&P is one of the nation’s first supermarket chains. The Company operates 395 stores in eight states and the District of Columbia under the following names: A&P, Waldbaum’s, Pathmark, Best Cellars, The Food Emporium, Superfresh and Food Basics.