Last year, IPI Central Canteen located at the Newton Correctional Facility set a new sales record with a growth of 4.3% over the previous year. This year, we are on target for record sales again. Despite a slightly lower inmate population, the first 8 months of FY 2016 averaged an overall sales growth of 6% as compared to FY 2015. Some sales months grew more than 10%.
Monthly sales specials and a better method of communicating customer requests are two factors that have contributed to our overall increase in sales. Monthly sales specials, advertised in our monthly IPI Central Canteen Newsletter, have increased FY 2016 sales on advertised items by an average of 53%. Strategically, the monthly sales item is typically an item contained in the monthly published recipe. The reverse side of the newsletter provides a survey form and a comments section that our customers use to communicate with us. Our customers make product recommendations, and we attempt to add those products to better meet customer needs.
IPI Central Canteen has offered holiday gift bags to our customers since 2004. We have set record sales of holiday gift bags for the last 5 consecutive years with 2015 sales being the highest ever recorded. This year, we installed a new gift bag database at the Business Office and implemented many improved procedures for handling gift bag sales, packaging and delivery. These more effective processes have improved customer service and provided a better overall sales experience.