So says Brian Colin, senior director of business development for Nabisco's Specialty Products Co., Parsippany, NJ. The pro-ducts in-clude salad dressings, specialty oils, vinegars and cooking wines. "We elected to associate the products with fa-mous im-pressionistic art," Colin says. "We wanted the picture to tie in with the product where possible." Colin worked with design consultants Libby Macdonald & Shear (Stamford, CT) in selecting the art and obtaining rights to use it. Included are works by Monet, Cezanne, Pisarro, and Van Gogh. The Nabisco purchasing people had just weeks to source containers. "We had six months to get it on shelves," says Colin, "but we only had three months for sales samples." Stock bottles came from Anchor Glass (Tampa, FL) with blue PP caps from Poly-Seal (Baltimore, MD) covered by blue neckbands of polyvinyl chloride from Templock (Santa Barbara, CA). The beautiful labels are printed offset in six colors by Gamse Litho (Baltimore, MD). Two products, balsamic vinegar and the extra virgin olive oil, are produced and packaged in Italy, says Colin. So bottles, labels, caps and neckbands all had to be sourced in Italy, just like the product and the packaging line to fill them. These first extensions of the Grey Poupon line beyond mustards began appearing on gourmet and food store shelves this fall. The 12- and 17-oz products are priced between $2.59 and $3.89; the oils sell for $6.89.
