Gonzales company vying to ‘Get on the Shelf’

Adams Extract & Spice has entered its product, Culinary Tonight, in Walmart’s new American Idol-style contest, “Get on the Shelf.”

It was just a matter of time before the cultural phenomenon of realty TV made its way to the business community. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, recently announced a new contest dedicated to finding new and innovative products to put on its shelves. “Get on the Shelf,” an online product search, is the first major campaign developed by Walmart’s new social media wing, @Wal-MartLabs.

“Since mega retailers like Walmart source their products globally, it is difficult for them to see all the new and innovative products available,” says Sterling Crim, chief marketing officer and managing partner at Gonzales-based Adams Extract & Spice. “Even with successful distribution of our brands in the South, it is difficult to be recognized for national distribution for our new and innovative products. We are excited to see Walmart level the playing field.

“If we can win, Culinary Tonight will start showing up on the shelves of Walmart in early 2013, just in time to celebrate our 125th anniversary,” Crim says.

This is exactly what Walmart’s new program aims to do.

“Walmart has the best products at everyday low prices, but we know there are some great undiscovered products that have not yet reached our shelves,” Venky Harinarayan, senior vice president of Walmart Global e-commerce, said in a press release. “For a long time, the ability to get a product into a retail store was at the sole discretion of the store buyer. Today, we are removing these barriers by giving anyone a chance to launch their product at Walmart and reach millions of shoppers nationwide.”

Adams’ contest entry, Culinary Tonight, is a line of pre-measured seasoning kits that are designed to make healthy restaurant classic meals. Each meal comes with the seasonings and finishing sauces for both an entree and a side dish. Adams has included simple and intuitive directions on the box, but just in case you need a little help, how-to videos featuring their Kitchen Coach’s are available at www.culinarytonight.com. The seasoning kits have a suggested retail of $1.69, and come in six meal combinations: Grilled Steak with Mushrooms in a Red Port Wine Reduction, Sweet & Smoky Salmon with Truffled Asparagus, Tuscan Chicken with Mushroom Marsala, Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops with Herbes de Provence Roasted Potatoes, Kicked-Up Chicken with Sticky Corn, and Southwest Tacos with Ahuaca-Mulli Guacamole.

“We have made it so easy to enjoy a restaurant quality meal at home,” says Clay Ruple, president and managing partner of Adams Extract & Spice. “The average price for all the ingredients needed to make this culinary meal is less than $10, including the seasoning kit.

“Because it is prepared fresh at home, it’s very healthy,” Ruple says. “One entree and side dish serving has less sodium than a serving of macaroni and cheese.”

The first round of voting for the “Get on the Shelf” contest runs through April 3. If successful in the initial round, final voting will run April 11-24.

To vote for Adams Culinary Tonight, visit www.getontheshelf.com/product/1108/Culinary-Tonight-.