A Cherry on Top for Local Friendly's Ice Cream Team at Peabody, Massachusetts

Peabody Friendly's employees win "Best of the Best" second place in company's annual Ice Cream World competition

Peabody, MA (Grassroots Newswire) (August 13, 2008) - The ice cream experts at Friendly's have found the "Best of the Best" fountain workers and Renae Murphy and Mike Maguire from the Peabody restaurant took the cake as the first prize winners in the annual Ice Cream World competition.

Every year for the past seven years, Friendly's sets out to find the creme de la creme of their fountain workers: their very own ice cream experts. And on August 6, 2008, 14 teams of fountain workers from across the chain raised their ice cream scoopers in preparation for the title.

After competing at the restaurant and district levels, Murphy and Maguire headed to Wilbraham, Mass. for the finals. The teams prepared the same eight creations and were judged on product accuracy, eye appeal and their own uniform appearance. Additionally, they had to create their own sundae/fountain beverage, which was judged on: the name, creativity, marketability and taste.

"The competition was so much fun and I was excited to be a representative for my Friendly's restaurant. I was so thrilled to be named one of the best ice cream experts in the chain," said Murphy.

"There are few people that can say they are the best of the best at Friendly's. I'm excited to be one of them. I look forward to serving up more treats for our Peabody guests," said Maguire.

The judges for the event included: Andre Fuehr, VP, Research and Development; Kevin McNamara, VP, Operations Support Services; Lionel Bisson, quality assurance director; and Ron Mease, senior director operations services. Friendly's' President and CEO George Condos, SVP of Company Operations John Bowie, and VP of Franchising and Development Jim Sullivan were also on hand to watch the fun.

"We're very proud of both Renae and Mike and are excited they have won first place in the competition. At Friendly's, we're dedicated to making sure our guests thoroughly enjoy their food, service and ice cream treats: Renae and Mike have proven that they're truly the best of the best," said John Bowie.

Friendly's has more than 500 company and franchised restaurants throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. As the neighborhood, family restaurant, they offer a great kids menu, signature sandwiches, delicious entrees and indulgent ice cream desserts in a fun, family environment. The company also manufactures all of its own ice cream, which is distributed through more than 4,000 supermarkets and other retail locations.

For more information on the Friendly's Ice Cream World event, please contact Maura Tobias at (413) 731-4238.