Hain Celestial and Walmart Fight Hunger

Lake Success, New York – Recognizing that families in need don’t always have access to nutritious meals, The Hain Celestial Group established a partnership with Share Our Strength’s “No Kid Hungry” effort earlier this year through its Earth’s Best and Ella’s Kitchen brands. The campaign works to provide nutritious food to struggling children and teaches their families how to cook healthy, affordable meals.Bringing together social responsibility with each brand’s natural and organic heritage is extremely important for Hain Celestial, says Robyn Mermelstein, category group manager, baby and toddler. She notes that many of these brands’ products speak to nutrition and the importance of healthy habits from an early age. “There are millions of kids in the United States struggling with hunger, and we wanted to get involved to help drive awareness to an issue that is very much in our own backyard. A lot of people think of the U.S. as a rich country and often don’t realize that there are issues like this so close to home.”In February, both brands contributed $75,000 – or 1.5 million meals – to “No Kid Hungry” to help make a difference in the lives of the one in five children struggling with hunger in the United States. To help drive awareness for the program, specially marked packages of Earth’s Best and Ella’s Kitchen organic baby food pouches began rolling out the next month into 800 Walmart stores. “Each package highlights how the simple act of feeding a child a nutritious breakfast can have a dramatic effect on their lives,” says Mermelstein.The specially marked packages with select pouches in four-pack boxes provide more information about “No Kid Hungry” and provide moms with healthier on-the-go options. “The box of four pouches is also more economical for shoppers than buying individual pouches in-store,” Mermelstein says. Since The Walmart Foundation has a history of working with brands to help support food insecurity in the U.S., the company used this insight to create a unique program that supports Walmart initiatives and shares its brands’ values.The multi-pronged campaign is also being promoted through a nationwide blogger partnership that brings together mom bloggers from around the country who compiled bags of food for donation with their families, helping teach the importance of giving to charity.“With the hashtags #NoKidHungry and #FeedKidsInNeed, these influencers invited their readers and audiences to participate in not only shopping for these specially marked packages, but also encouraged them to donate food to local food banks and get more involved with their communities,” says Mermelstein.Dedicated Web landing pages provide information on the campaign, and a store locator, geo-targeted digital/mobile ads, and a targeted social media campaign help drive awareness of “NKH” and the products available in select Walmart stores.“This campaign leads shoppers into stores to purchase the products to use with their families and to encourage them to donate,” she says.Throughout the 12-month program, Mermelstein says the company is hoping for 100% sell-through of the specially marked packages, as well as 15-20 million media impressions. This is the first time the company has done a shopper marketing program with Walmart, she notes. “So having the opportunity to have this presence in-store for the brands and to drive awareness of how others can help end child hunger in America with the ‘No Kid Hungry’ campaign is a huge win for Hain Celestial.”The program’s vendor network included Iced Media, New York; Maletzky Media, New York; and Blue Chip Marketing, Chicago.

Hain Celestial and Walmart Fight Hunger

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

Related Images

Business Topic

Company

Market Segment