Jill Cataldo

UPDATE: GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED! The winner is JudyFolkers! Thank you to everyone that entered!

You may have read in the news recently that changes are in store for Jewel-Osco's house brand of products. Beginning this summer, the former "Jewel" branded products will be replaced by "Essential Everyday," the new store brand for all SuperValu-owned supermarkets.

It seems that a lot of our retailers are ramping up their house-branded offerings as of late, and what SuperValu is doing with Essential Everyday fits with that - creating a new store brand with packaging and quality rivaling that of national competitors.

To celebrate this launch, I've got an Essential Everyday Pasta Prize Pack to give away! One lucky reader will win a 16-ounce box of Essential Everyday pasta and a 24-ounce jar of Essential Everyday pasta sauce!

Want to win? To enter, simply post a comment under this article! This Essential Everyday Pasta Prize Pack giveaway begins today, June 26, 2011, and runs for one week. The contest will end on July 2nd at 11:59pm, and on July 3rd, one winner will be chosen via a random number generator!

My thoughts on Essential Everyday:

With the rollout of Essential Everyday coming soon, SuperValu sent some samples over to try out -- boxed pasta noodles and pasta sauce. As a coupon shopper who's tried nearly every brand of boxed pasta at one point or another, I don't notice too many differences between one brand to the next... the Essential Everyday pasta cooked up and tasted fine to us. I was pleased that the Essential Everyday pasta sauce tasted comparable to several national brands, like a Prego or Ragu, and had a pretty simple ingredients list (the basics you'd expect: tomatoes, onions, sugar, salt, garlic) with no artificial colors or flavors. The pasta sauce did not contain high-fructose corn syrup either if you're avoiding that in your diet. Both the pasta and pasta sauce's packaging offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. I'm curious to see where these products will be priced once they hit store shelves.

More about Essential Everyday products:

Starting this summer, SuperValu is launching a new line of private label products called Essential Everyday that will replace the current JEWEL-OSCO store brand products. This change will take place in all SUPERVALU stores, including Albertsons, CUB, Hornbacher’s, Shop ‘n Save, JEWEL-OSCO, Shaw’s, ACME, SHOPPERS and Farm Fresh. The full launch of Essential Everyday will take over a year, but as early as next month shoppers will start to see Essential Everyday pasta and pasta sauce on the shelves. Cold cereal, hot cereal, fruit snacks and wholesome snacks will follow later this summer. The Essential Everyday brand will continue to provide the same high quality of the current JEWEL-OSCO brand, but the new name and updated packaging make it easier to shop at prices up to 20% less than national brands.

Legal: This giveaway is sponsored by SuperValu and JillCataldo.com. Responding to this post with a comment qualifies readers to enter. Duplicate posts do not increase chances of winning. The contest began at midnight on June 26, 2011 and will end at 11:59pm on July 2, 2011. One winner will be chosen via random-number generator on July 3, 2011 and announced the same day. Winner will receive ONE Essential Everyday Pasta Prize Pack consisting of one box of Essential Everyday dry pasta and one jar of Essential Everyday pasta sauce (the varieties of pasta and sauce that the winner will receive have been selected by SuperValu.) Products and program information were provided by SuperValu. I have received a box of Essential Everyday pasta and a jar of Essential Everyday pasta sauce from SuperValu. Winner will be contacted via the Private Messaging feature of JillCataldo.com and via email. If a winner does not reply to the message within three (3) days, that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be chosen. Fulfillment of prizes to winner will be handled by JillCataldo.com. Good luck to everyone!