October, 1999

Bill Knapp’s Restaurants honored for use of apples

by Lee Dean

National Apple Month recently recognized Bill Knapp’s Restaurant for the use and promotion of apples and apple products on the menu. Bill Knapp’s, headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, was the site of the awards presentation.

Bill Knapp’s features caramel apple sundae pie as a fall specialty, cranberry apple salad, unsweetened applesauce, apple pie and apple juice on the menu.

Gayle Evans, assistant director of marketing for Bill Knapp’s, said that apples and apple products are an integral part of the menu. Bill Knapp’s works closely with the Michigan apple industry to provide terrific apple promotions for their customers.

Operating more than 50 restaurants in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, Bill Knapp’s has been promoting apples and apple products on the menu for years. The chain is a casual, full service family restaurant serving American foods and homemade specialties cooked from scratch.

“Bill Knapp’s Restaurants are an excellent example of how foodservice operators can successfully merchandise apples and apple products on a menu,” said Kay Swartz Rentzel, director of the National Apple Month program. “Profitability is key to every foodservice operation and apples and apple products contribute to an operation’s bottom line.”

Bill Knapp’s is the fifth chain restaurant operation to be recognized by the National Apple Month Program for the use of apples and apple products on the menu. Previous recipients were Bob Evans Farms, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Ground Round Restaurants and Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar restaurants.

The Fruit Growers News