• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, March 9, 2011

Stouffer's new Farmers' Harvest frozen entrée brand is "invading" the hugely popular Zynga FarmVille game site ... or at least that's how fan site Farmvillefreak.com put it.

Not that that's a bad thing. While the Nestle brand is just now unfurling its full in-game promotion, some players are expressing "excitement" about the Stouffer's billboard teaser appearing in the loading screen while logging in to play. The promotion shows a box of Farmers' Harvest and promises that the new branded feature "coming soon" will let players "help grow wholesome ingredients and earn exclusive items."

So far, players are seeing a new type of tree -- a "Giant Mac & Cheese Tree" -- grow, sprouting from "Mystery Seedlings."

Game bloggers are reporting that players who grow their seedlings into Giant Mac & Cheese Trees can share their trees with FarmVille neighbors through their Facebook news feeds, and that there is also a "Tree Mastery" capability. (Mastery Level 1, 75 harvests, rewards 25 XP and 500 farm coins, for example.)

One Blog.games.com poster noted that "players on the official FarmVille forums are not too thrilled about the looks of this new Mac & Cheese Tree, claiming it looks like maggots more than food and doesn't really make sense. Sometimes promotions do go out of their way to fit within the theme of the game, and we think this one is a bit of a stretch."

Another noted that "while it may be a dumb-looking tree that barely fits in with the game, it might be in your best interest to master this one. Besides, mac & cheese is just plain delicious whether it's from a box or a tree, in this case."

The new Farmers' Harvest line is one of Stouffer's initiatives to enhance the nutritional value and ingredients of its foods.

Now in stores, the line offers three family-size entrées ($7.39 suggested retail) and seven single-serve entrées ($3.49 suggested retail). All feature ingredients such as olive oil, real cheese and sea salt, and have no preservatives. Sodium content ranges from 28% to 40% of the recommended daily value, according to Food Business Review.

Whole grains are featured in eight recipes (including a single-serve whole grain mac and cheese variety), and several of the individual-serve varieties include a half-cup of vegetables.

Main dishes in the single-serve varieties include two lasagnas (meat/sauce and vegetable), grilled fettuccini alfredo, chicken and parmesan pasta, roasted chicken with bowtie pasta, and spaghetti and meatballs.