Potato Lover’s Month is an exhibition contest within a supermarket chain which consists of mounting the most creative display using the Idaho potato. The first edition of 2023 was held in 80 Calimax stores distributed in Tijuana, Ensenada, Mexicali, Rosarito and SLRC.
More than 150 fruit managers and staff on the sales floor participated through their support in the arrangement and assembly of the displays, with the aim of creating an eye-catching display that would capture the eye of the consumer.
All displays were posted on the Idaho Potato Commission’s Facebook page where hundreds of consumers and participants voted for their favorite display by liking.
Thus, achieving an increase in sales of 51.74% in pesos and 11.93% in volume; likewise, a shrinkage reduction of 24.61%. On the other hand, more than 150 interactions were obtained between likes, comments and shares on the Facebook page.
Through the support granted by the Idaho Potato Commission, a cooking show was held at the Grupo Tarahumara facilities in one of its main warehouses within the Guadalajara, Jalisco supply center.
The activity consisted of the execution of a live recipe by a professional chef. During the execution of the recipe, the benefits, uses and versatility that characterize Idaho potatoes were communicated.
The results obtained through the promotion were the following:
Sales increased over seven times the average sales of Idaho Potato sacks.
It should be considered that the customers who carried out the promotion had not previously purchased the product and the purchase was to get to know the potato.
SUCCESSFUL ACTIVATION
This year the Idaho Potato Commission participated in the 37th edition of Abastur from August 31 to September 2, 2022, as an exhibitor. Abastur is the largest business platform in Latin America, where IPC successfully had contact with the most important suppliers and buyers for the foodservice industry.
On the 3-day exhibition, more than 80 key leads from the industry were generated at the Idaho Potato Commission booth, thus achieving new business opportunities. Likewise, more than 300 tasting samples were offered with the objective that the event’s attendants could enjoy the authentic flavor of Idaho potatoes.
This year we held a sampling program at Costco in late July and early August. For this activation, fresh Idaho potatoes were tasted in 17 Costco stores in 6 cities around the country.
The objective of the activity was for people to taste the unique flavor of Idaho potatoes, how they are prepared and to identify the “Grown in Idaho” seal as a guarantee that they are acquiring authentic Idaho potatoes of the highest quality.
During the two tasting weekends, more than 2,175 bags of 10 pounds of fresh potatoes were sold, equivalent to $345.8k in sales, thus obtaining an ROI of 195%
This year we held three weeks of Idaho Potato samplings at 36 City Club stores across the country from July through September.
The objective of the activity was for people to know about the unique and delicious flavor of Idaho potatoes, how they are prepared, and to identify the “Grown in Idaho” seal as a guarantee that they are getting the highest quality and authentic Idaho potatoes.
During this month and a half, Idaho potatoes in frozen format in wavy and straight cuts were used for sampling days, reaching sales of more than 851 boxes of frozen potatoes, which are equal to more than $450k in sales, therefore obtaining an ROI of 41%.
For the October demos, an activation was held at City Club San Jeronimo with the presence of Paola Longoria, where a Meet and Greet took place with the athlete. Where the people had the opportunity to meet her, take pictures and sign autographs. This demo had around 50 attendees who were in the store for the event and a huge reach in networks due to the communication that Paola made on Instagram where she has more than 324,000 followers.
The event consisted of a Christmas promotion together with the SuperChivas supermarket chain to position the Russet potatoes as well as the “Grown in Idaho” seal.
The draw was promoted in point of sale with an outdoor canvas in the stores and promotion in cash register, social networks (Facebook and Instagram) and SuperChivas website, posters in strategic points of the city of Mexicali, 40 monthly spots on local television, Mention in local radio and RadioChivas that is reproduced in the 21 branches of this supermarket.
The promotion stated that customers had to make a minimum purchase of 350 Mexican pesos in the chain to participate in monthly consumption vouchers for one year.
There were a total of 21 winners who will receive monthly vouchers and we achieved 100% Idaho presente at the point of sale
On November 24th, in coordination with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, we celebrated a Thanksgiving dinner which representatives of supermarkets, restaurants, media in Mexico attended, in addition to Thomas Reott, Consul General of the United States in Tijuana.
“The objective was to show the richness and variety of food produced in Idaho, as a reflection of its natural and industrial characteristics that allows it to create more than 185 commodities and that place it in the top 10 of the main agricultural producers in the United States” (siempre la noticia, 2021)
The Idaho Russet potato was highlighted, as well as the yellow onion.
The Chef in charge of developing recipes was Javier Plasencia with more than 50 k followers on Instagram.
Chef Javier Plasencia created a 5-course menu incorporating Idaho ingredients in a unique way:
IPC had the initiative to promote Idaho Potatoes as a healthy carbohydrate since one of the biggest challenges of potatoes is the belief that carbohydrates provide negative effects in diets. Through athletes such as Paola Longoria, Charlie Sarmiento and Oso Negro a “good carbohydrates” campaign was launched.
The biggest challenge was to find the athletes and spokesperson for the campaign, since they had to show a good image and be an example for consumers. We managed to contact Paola Longoria, one of the best racquetball players in the world, with 334mil followers on Instagram, Paola has been talking about the IPC for 3 months and has made recipes, routines, and publications with more than 1700 likes about the benefits of potatoes. Charlie Sarmiento has carried publicity on his networks and has given talks on health and sports with more than 480 reproductions. While IPC became an official sponsor of the Ultra Marathon “Black Bear” with whom we will have advertising throughout 2021 and until the race in January 2022 with banners of the account in training and advertising on social networks of the race.
The Potato Lover’s Month promotion was an exhibition contest that was held from October 17th to November 17th in stores of the retail chain CALIMAX, with the objective of increasing visibility and sales of Idaho potatoes in 89 stores in the region of Baja California as well as guide the consumer in the selection and purchase of Idaho potatoes.
The biggest challenge throughout this activity was to be able to have visibility due to the contingency of COVID-19
Potato Lover’s Month was achieved through retail marketing activities, such as:
The winning Potato Lovers Month stores were Cortes, Chapultepec and Xochimilco with sales increases ranging from 44 to 54.98%
Paola Longoria, our Idaho Potatoes brand ambassador, competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics giving IPC visibility in the world’s most important events and with the challenge of spreading information about nutrition in Idaho Potatoes.
This effective campaign was an extension of the sponsorship that IPC has with the athlete, where she shares 3 stories and 1 post on Instagram and Facebook every month. This communication plan was used for the long-awaited world event, where Paola recorded with the Idaho Potatoes mascot, “Spuddy buddy”, tagging IPC’s official social networks. Her Instagram account currently has more than 355,000 followers and a circle of more than 1,587,147 followers on Facebook, a community that continues to grow thanks to the athlete’s popularity.
The campaign successfully included stories within the sporting events and photographs in emblematic places of the venue, which exceeded 3,928 likes on Instagram and 11,344 likes on Facebook.