Produce Starts to Matter More

"Fruits & Veggies -- More Matters," the next-generation marketing initiative from the Produce for Better Health Foundation, is sprouting at supermarkets nationwide to relay nutritional solutions through retailer and brand activity.Successor to the Foundation's 15-year-old "5-A-Day" campaign, the More Matters program encourages consumers to increase their intake of fruits and vegetables, whether they be in fresh, frozen, canned, dried or juice form. Recipes, health information and tips carrying the program's message fall into three categories: product-specific (such as how to store or prepare a food), increasing consumption (such as drinking vegetable juice) and solutions for kids. "This is not a promotional program, this is a health initiative," says Bryant Wynes, senior executive of retail marketing for PBH. The campaign is "less preachy, more positive" than 5-A-Day, which stressed the nutritional importance of eating five to nine daily servings of produce, according to Wynes. "Consumer research showed that people already knew they should eat their fruits and vegetables. They didn't need an extensive, detailed explanation as to why, they needed help as to how."Items that contain at least one serving of fruit or vegetable per portion and fit certain nutritional guidelines may display the program's green logo (a figure juggling produce). More than 22,000 stores from 45 national and regional chains are supporting the program by deploying the logo on signs and packaging and distributing informative materials. Participating retailers include Wal-Mart, Safeway, Supervalu, Meijer, Kroger, Ahold USA, Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Pathmark, H-E-B, Publix, Food Lion and Giant Eagle. More Matters officially launched March 19 with a ceremony at a San Francisco Safeway. Meanwhile, chains including Safeway, Meijer, Kroger, Ahold's Giant and Supervalu's Albertsons held in-store events such as cooking demonstrations, sampling and press conferences in produce departments. Regional activity included billboards, a statewide weight-loss challenge in Alabama and events at schools in Ohio and Michigan.According to Wynes, retailers can leverage the program with creative control. "We make the message available to retailers, and they mold it into what works best for them," he says. "The materials look like [their own] and read like them, but the message fits our objectives." Retailer marketing tactics, which favor information over promotions, range from circular features, nutritional newsletters and in-store magazines to signage, recipe brochures, and packaging on private-label foods.PBH assists by supplying a tool kit with graphics and 52 tips on eating, cooking and shopping, which retailers relay through print and in-store creative. Support also directs shoppers to the More Matters web site, which launched in March and features nutrition, cooking and shopping information.In addition to retailers, PBH has enlisted more than 130 vendors, getting its logo onto packaged brands from General Mills, Del Monte and others -- including products in less obvious categories such as juice and frozen fruit. "We want to make sure people understand that all forms of fruits and veggies count," Wynes says. Products indirectly related to produce, such as salad dressing or Glad storage items from Clorox Co., also leverage the program through cross-promotional activity. To promote the launch of More Matters, PBH is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for a "Fruits & Veggies -- More Matters Challenge," which urges families to submit a recipe or tip that includes fruits and/or vegetables. Two grand-prize winners receive family trips to The Culinary Institute of America campuses in Hyde, NY, and St. Helena, CA, respectively. Secondary prizes include $50 for the winning entry in each state and $100 for five finalists. Entry is online from March 19 to May 31.

Produce Starts to Matter More

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