October 12, 2002 - Hillshire Farms and Kahn's meat products join the military, so to speak

by Bryan Salvage

Colorado Springs, Col.-based Military Resale Group Inc. has added Hillshire Farms and Kahn's product groups of Sara Lee Foods-USA to its supplier network. Products from these added lines include major brands of packaged meats and hams.

"I am very pleased to welcome the Hillshire Farms and Kahn's product lines to our growing list of product offerings," said Ethan D. Hokit, president of Military Resale Group. "We have been advised by Sara Lee Foods-USA, and verified with the United States Defense Commissary Agency, a Department of Defense agency, that sales of Hillshire Farms and Kahn's products in 2001 to the commissaries we currently service amounted to approximately $950,000."

The Hillshire Farms and Kahn's product lines joins Military Resale Group's existing meat and poultry product offerings, which include Tyson fresh chicken and Jimmy Dean sausage, among many other food and non-food products, according to a news release.

What is MRG?

Military Resale Group is a regional distributor of grocery and household items specializing in distribution to the military market. MYRG distributes a wide variety of items, including fresh and frozen meat and poultry. Its operations are currently directed to servicing the commissary at each of six military installations located in Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota, including the Air Force Academy located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. MYRG is approved by the Department of Defense to contract with military commissaries and exchanges.

Facts on military commissaries

Military commissaries are large supermarket-type stores operated by DeCA to provide grocery items for sale to authorized patrons at the lowest practicable prices in facilities designed and operated under standards similar to those in commercial food stores, the news release added. As of May, there were 281 commissaries worldwide, of which 176 were located in the Continental United States and 105 were located overseas.

Commissaries are authorized by law to sell goods only to authorized patrons, which include the approximately 1.4 million active duty U.S. military personnel, their dependents and certain authorized reservists and retirees. As of May, these authorized patrons totaled approximately 13.7 million individuals. Annual worldwide commissary sales totaled more than $5 billion in the year ended Sept. 30, 2001.

MYRG's annual sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2001, were more than $4.8 million, reflecting a five-fold increase from $750,000 since its formation in 1997. Sales for the six months ended June 30 were more than $3 million, reflected an increase of approximately 39.2 percent, compared to the six months ended June 30.

This article reprinted with permission from Meat Marketing & Technology.

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