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ConAgra Hopes Giant Hot Dog is Big Winner

Posted on: Friday, 12 May 2006, 15:04 CDT

By Joe Ruff, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.

May 12--ConAgra Foods hopes to hit a home run with half-pound all-beef Hebrew National hot dogs being sold for the first time this season at three major league ballparks.

Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, last week began selling Hebrew National hot dogs for the first time. The park also sells regional favorite Fenway Frank hot dogs but is branching out this year to market Hebrew National's giant, half-pound kosher all-beef hot dog, which is 9 inches long and costs $6.50.

"Red Sox fans are going to love the new, larger-than-life Hebrew National hot dog because it celebrates all that is great about Fenway," said former Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn, a spokesman for the Hebrew National brand.

Home stadiums for the Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves added the giant hot dog to their menus this year after carrying the more common quarter-pound Hebrew National hot dog, which costs between $3.50 and $4.50 at most ballparks. Fenway is offering only the giant hot dog.

Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Texas, and Turner Field in Atlanta offer several sizes of Hebrew National hot dogs. The half-pound hot dog costs $8.25 at Ameriquest and $6.25 at Turner Field.

Hebrew National hot dogs are sold at 14 of the nation's 30 Major League Baseball stadiums, more than any other company's branded hot dog, said Jon Swadley, marketing director for Hebrew National, a ConAgra subsidiary. If the specialty hot dog sells big at the ballparks, he said, the brand could expand it into other stadiums, more food service venues and onto grocery shelves.

ConAgra Foods President and Chief Executive Gary Rodkin has vowed to put more advertising and marketing behind the company's major brands. The stadium push is part of that effort, Swadley said.

"We're really trying to bring Hebrew National to a national level," Swadley said.

Kosher foods in general have increased in popularity, partly because people know they are prepared under strict processing standards and without additives or fillers, Swadley said.

Hebrew National, founded 51 years ago in New York City and now based in Naperville, Ill., has been making the half-pound hot dog for about three years but distributing it only through some food stands and other small food service venues.

The huge hot dogs have been popular at food courts in BJ's Club Stores on the East Coast, and that prompted the move to major ballparks, Swadley said.

The half-pound frankfurter has 700 calories and 64 grams of fat, with 30 grams of saturated fat and 140 milligrams of cholesterol. The fat and saturated fat levels are at or above what the federal government suggests an average person should eat all day. The cholesterol is about half the recommended daily intake and the sodium is about 82 percent.

At the retail level, Hebrew National markets many sizes and types of kosher hot dogs, including 97 percent fat-free varieties that are certified by the American Heart Association's heart check program, Swadley said.

FRANK FACTS

--The half-pound frankfurter

Calories: 700

Fat: 64 grams

Saturated fat: 30 grams

Cholesterol: 140 milligrams

--Beef franks

Calories: 150

Fat: 14 grams

Saturated fat: 6 grams

Cholesterol: 30 milligrams

--97 percent fat free beef franks

Calories: 45

Fat: 1.5 grams

Saturated fat: 1 gram

Cholesterol: 15 milligrams

Source: Hebrew National

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CAG,

Source: Omaha World-Herald

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