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ANGELES (Billboard) - Smokey Robinson has satisfied his share of musical
palates. Now he's whetting appetites of a different sort. The Motown legend has launched Smokey Robinson's Foods. The company introduced its first product, Soul Is in the Bowl Gumbo, to the Chicago market in February. The gumbo is available there through the Jewel-Osco chain, an Albertson's subsidiary. "I've been a gumbo connoisseur since I was a kid," Robinson says. "If you're going to make real good gumbo, it's an all-day or all-night cook. But this you just have to microwave." Located in the frozen food section, Robinson's gumbo contains chicken sausage and seafood but no red meat. It's low in cholesterol and sodium. The gumbo hits Southern and Northern California in May through Safeway and Albertson's, respectively. Then it's on to Dallas, where Robinson will open the city's annual Juneteenth Festival. He plans to go national before the end of the year. BENEFITING EDUCATION Smokey Robinson's Foods is a partnership among Robinson, his interior designer wife, Frances, Los Angeles club owner/philanthropist Gene La Pietra and actor/producer Leon Isaac Kennedy. It was Kennedy who brought Robinson and La Pietra together. The L.A.-based company operates with a staff of five, including CEO Jeff Brain, marketing director Geoffrey Garfield and PR consultant Karen Mayo. A portion of the company's profits will be used to further education for minority children. It took 18 months to develop the gumbo's recipe and packaging, Garfield says. He cites Robinson's 45-year career and demographic reach among people 35 and older as keys to achieving the company's goals: succeeding in the ethnic and frozen food fields. Erin Patton, president of marketing think tank the Mastermind Group, believes Robinson is on the right track. "Soul music and soul food are inextricably linked. And Smokey Robinson is someone able to navigate this new territory. He has credibility with the mainstream. Plus, he's tapping into the African-American community with a health-conscious alternative against such concerns as heart disease." Regularly priced at $2.89, the gumbo was offered at an introductory price of two for $5 during a 24-store test run in Chicago. After the monthlong test, during which 50,000 packages of gumbo were sold, all 204 Jewel-Osco stores in the city began to stock the gumbo. Robinson isn't the first R&B artist to parlay musical popularity into the food arena. Patti LaBelle wrote a cookbook. Ashford & Simpson operate a New York eatery. Isaac Hayes, another cookbook author, runs a Memphis soul food restaurant and markets Memphis Magic meat sauces. On the country front, there are Jimmy Dean (sausage), George Jones (bacon, bottled water), Tracy Byrd (spices and seasoning) and Dwight Yoakam (seafood). Before working with Robinson, Mayo was special events director for Gladys Knight. She helped the singer establish a Las Vegas-based bakery. After leading with gumbo, Robinson plans to offer red beans and rice and jambalaya. Simmering on the back burner are ideas for a health food division, as well as bottled water and co-branding with other celebrity-spawned food items. As the company ramps up, listen for Robinson-penned jingles in forthcoming radio and TV spots.
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