Video: Popcorn Becomes the 'It' Snack for Girls Night In as Orville Redenbacher's(R) Debuts Natural Lime & Salt

Orville Redenbacher's(R) Gourmet(R) Popping Corn Teams Up with Celebrity Party Planner Jo Gartin to Give Busy Moms Tips for Quick, Easy Girlfriend Time

OMAHA, Neb., Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Balancing hectic careers, busy partners and family obligations can be tough, and for most women, finding that extra time to spend with friends can be a rare opportunity. To help girlfriends easily unite in a fun and creative way -- and to inspire women to spend more time with their friends by hosting regular Girls Night In events -- Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn partnered with working mom and celebrity party planner Jo Gartin to provide tips that will make the entire girlfriend-gathering experience an easier process.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/orville/35326/

A recent survey conducted by Orville Redenbacher's revealed that while 74 percent of women viewed a girl's night gathering as one of the best possible ways to relax, one in six women still don't make the necessary time for their friends when life gets busy(1). But there are ways to plan around busy schedules.

Gartin, who recently helped plan a fun and entertaining girls night for Poppy Montgomery, star of CBS's "Without a Trace," and a few of her closest friends, noted that the most successful parties include simple elements that are easy to coordinate and implement.

"With so many other daily tasks to plan and coordinate, ease your mind by making the time spent with friends fun and relaxing -- not stressful," said Gartin. "Enjoying a night with just the girls is an extremely important part of a woman's life. So the less stress you have going into the night, the better the entire occasion will be for both you and your girlfriends."

As a busy mother of two who plans parties for a living, Gartin has a few tricks for making time to get together with friends:

    --  Save a date: Whether it's every week or every month, pick a regular time
        to meet. That way, everyone has it on their calendars in advance to plan
        around it.

    

    --  Have a dinner making party: Invite your friends over to make simple
        dishes they can take home to their families for dinner. That way, you
        can all enjoy the time you normally spend preparing a meal with each
        other and no one misses family dinner.

    

    --  Bring errands in-house: If you can't find time to hit the gym, go to the
        salon, and spend time with the girls, consider inviting your friends
        over and doing those activities at home. Rent an exercise or dance DVD
        and sweat it up together. See if your local salon will send technicians
        to your home for manicures.

    

Gartin helped her friend Montgomery plan a Girls Night In party complete with lime-themed food and drinks to complement the newest flavor of Orville's Redenbacher's Natural popcorn -- Lime & Salt, as well as spa treatments to create a luxurious, relaxing environment. "You don't have to spend a lot of money to pamper your guests," said Gartin. "Many everyday grocery items make great beauty masks and scrubs, avocado and oatmeal with honey are my favorite. Your guests can take home jars of homemade face masks as a fun and useful goodbye gift."

Gartin recommends picking a theme as a fun way to keep all elements cohesive and to make planning easier. "A theme ensures your food, decor and activities all tie together. It's much easier to make decisions when there is a theme to filter decisions through."

Simplify the gathering even more by keeping the menu basic -- serve snacks and drinks instead of a full meal. "Popcorn is the perfect snack for any occasion and is especially great for women spending that much-needed quality time together," said Joan Chow, Chief Marketing Officer, ConAgra Foods. "With busy schedules, finding time is always an issue. But Girls Night In provides women with a reason to get together, and when coupled with Orville Redenbacher's tips and tricks, it's the perfect opportunity to sample our newest flavor of Natural popcorn -- Lime & Salt."

Orville Offers Girls Night In Planning Tools

Women who are interested in throwing a party can go online at www.orville.com/GirlsNightIn for tips, theme ideas and tools, including a downloadable coupon for Orville Redenbacher's products. There, women will have the opportunity to use a custom Orville Redenbacher's "Girls Night In" Evite(R) invitation to reach out to their girlfriends. Evite is the leading social event planning service on the Web, facilitating more than 200 million invitations a year. Evite makes planning easy and saves hosts time, money and paper.

Orville Redenbacher's Natural Lime & Salt is the newest product to be launched as part of the Natural line, joining other such varieties as Simply Salted and Simply Salted 50% Less Fat, Buttery Salt & Cracked Pepper, Buttery Garlic, Butter and Butter 50% Less Fat. Orville Redenbacher's Natural flavors are 100-percent whole grain with no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and zero grams of trans fat per serving. The Lime & Salt flavor is available exclusively at Wal-Mart, and all other Natural varieties are available at Wal-Mart, and grocery and mass retailers nationwide.

ABOUT ORVILLE REDENBACHER'S

Orville Redenbacher's(R) Gourmet Popping Corn is the leader in microwave popcorn. It's the perfect snack for the entire family -- popping up hot, fresh and delicious every time. Orville Redenbacher's is available in more than 70 varieties to complement any lifestyle, taste or occasion, including SmartPop! 94% fat free, Natural and Organic. Orville Redenbacher's SmartPop! line continues to garner more consumer interest in the healthy snack segment by appealing to consumers on the basis of its whole-grain content(2). For more information on the brand and products, visit Orville Redenbacher's Web site at www.orville.com.

ABOUT CONAGRA FOODS

ConAgra Foods Inc. is one of North America's leading packaged food companies, serving grocery retailers, as well as restaurants and other foodservice establishments. Popular ConAgra Foods consumer brands include: Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM, and many others. For more information, please visit us at www.conagrafoods.com.

(1) The Ketchum Global Research Network worked with Braun Research to conduct a survey of nationally representative sample of 300 female and 300 male Americans. The survey was administered via telephone from July 25-31, 2008, and the margin of error for the findings is +/- 5.66 percent at the 95-percent confidence level.

(2) Salty Snacks--U.S., March 2007, a report from Mintel, a leading market research company

Video: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/orville/35326 Orville Redenbacher's(R)

CONTACT: Lauren Sugarman of Ketchum, +1-312-228-6967,
lauren.sugarman@ketchum.com , for Orville Redenbacher's; or Genevieve Mazzeo
of ConAgra Foods, +1-402-595-6864, Genevieve.mazzeo@conagrafoods.com

Web site: http://www.conagrafoods.com/
http://www.orville.com/
http://www.orville.com/GirlsNightIn/