Costco and the California Milk Advisory Board created alliances to promote two pizzas in Service Deli area, cheese and pepperoni, where he origin of the cheese was promoted accompanied with retail publications in Facebook and Contacto magazine, as well as in the Real California Milk social media.
The promotion was executed in a month, from October 28th to November 22nd, where California Milk supported for the first time Costco Service Deli during their annual special promotion with pizzas. During this month Costco sold around 64,493 units nationwide. This is 135% of sales increase vs the same promotion in 2019. With Costco’s Facebook post 135,606 people was reached, and a total of 350,000 magazines printed.
The U.S Southern Agricultural Trade Association with the help of imalinx coordinated the first virtual business mission in Mexico where 16 exporters signed up for digital business meetings with key contacts from the food and beverage industry with the objective of exploring new business opportunities for the Mexican market in the mid and long term.
Due to the COVID contingency, SUSTA and Imalinx had to migrate the in-person trade mission originally scheduled for Houston and Atlanta to a digital format that helped expand the number of registered buyers and exporters. Through the Zoom platform, Imalinx offered a virtual seminar to the 16 exporting companies talking about Mexico’s country overview, business situation, new labeling regulation and recommendations for the sessions. Followed by appointment coordination, sample logistics and follow-up after the event with exporters and buyers.
A total of 53 appointments were confirmed and divided in two blocks. The first was for categories of general snacks and groceries, the second for special categories such as plant proteins, cocktails, craft beer, among others. All contacts received pre-event samples to make products available during meetings, This facilitated the communication, immediate feedback and preparation of buyers for appointments.
Walter Brooks of Brooksmade Gourmet Foods
“I really looked forward to it and it was great. We will definitely come back and let you know if we could use your help in the future with these relationships”.
Jaime Fuentes de Brand Rep’s Cancun
“They were quite interested in our brokerage services. Likewise, their proposal has already been sent to each one so that, if accepted, they can start representing them in Mexico and be able to introduce their products to the markets they indicate us”.
WUSATA conducted a virtual trade mission between exporters between the states of Idaho, Oregon and Mexican Importers, with the aim of developing business relationships. Appointments were made between leading exporters and distributors and importers in Mexico in both, the retail and wholesale sectors.
This activity was an alternative to traditional trade missions that have been face-to-face. There were significant efficiencies in resources, budgets and time. Activities were programmed in anticipation so that the yellow onion season of Idaho and Eastern Oregon could begin strongly.
This new mode of trade mission proved to be very practical since from the comfort of the participant’s home of office. Strong and long lasting ties can be formed while staying safe at the same time.
The month of August began with two online seminars in collaboration with the Mexican Bakers Guild (COMEPAN), a project created by Chefs and Bakers: Irving Quiroz, Bernardo Flores, Kenny Kuri and Carlos Ramírez Roure. The event was sponsored by Real California Milk, California Raisins, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Monterrey Office.
The invitation was open to the general public with the aim of captivating enthusiasts for the bakery that could later be part of the guild itself. The Seminar was carried out on two dates; August 12 for Mexico City and August 13 for Monterrey, achieving a total record of 3,081 people who connected from Mexico, the United States, Spain and Colombia.
The first date was covered with the participation of Kenny Kuri and Carlos Ramírez Roure who produce Cocoa Bread with pasitas, Vienna Bread, Rye Bread and Peasant Bread. On the other hand, Bernardo Flores and Irving Quiroz showed the techniques For achieving a low fermentation Ciabatta, Marbling Box Bread, Sourdough with Oat Atole and Dark Chocolate Babka.
View stream:
Results.
The Mexican Bakers Guild is a meeting point for all bakery enthusiasts, professionals and entrepreneurs in general who share the philosophy of the goodness of bread. A survey was conducted to explore the opinion and segments of attendees:
| Type of Industry | % |
| Consumer | 22% |
| Distributor | 1% |
| Foodservice | 5% |
| Other | 32% |
| Bakery | 40% |
———————————————————————————————————-
| What type of content would you like for future seminars? | % |
| Interviews | 0% |
| Explanation of ingredients | 7% |
| Recipes | 18% |
| Baking techniques | 70% |
| Tips | 5% |
On June 17, an online seminar was held for more than 1,000 registered participants taught by Chef Irving Quiroz where he spoke about the importance of butter as a key ingredient in baking.
During the 90-minute session, Chef Irving Quiroz shared his knowledge and experiences with butter, highlighting the importance of quality butter, the optimum temperature for different types of baking, and the process of sifting the flour and fermenting the dough. Also, he explained the differences between a margarine and butter, an important characteristic at the end of the baking.
Chef Irving Quiroz baked: Conchas Gourmet, Chocolate Chip Cookies and a little-known bread in Mexico called Kouign Amann, a typical bread from the French region of Bretagne that means “Butter tart” and which has a special cold-rolling process. The digital recipe book was available to download at www.lechedecalifornia.com
The event was moderated by Beto Lanz, author and journalist about travel and gastronomy in Mexico and the world. Beto emphasized the origin, the process and the flavor of California Butter in addition to answering the participants’ questions.
Webinar record: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=358uKQGoLEw
On May 27th, Imalinx organized a Bakery Webinar with Chef Irving Quiroz to talk about the “Uses of California Raisins i bakery” The Chef developed 3 recipes with raisins as the main ingredient and he explained the process of each one during the webinar.
The webinar was broadcasted on Zoom with a total of 461 registered attendees and 311 total users during 90 minutes. The webinar was also shared on Facebook Live , generating 604 more live views with the possibility of watching again, reaching 32k views by the end of May!
The activity was a total success, especially during this period where people are at home eager to learn something new every day. After the webinar we received many comments asking where to buy California Raisins, sharing their own recipes and greetings for making this webinar.
To celebrate National Raisin Day (USA) in Mexico, we coordinated a media experience in Mexico so media contacts could enjoy a naturally sweet snack from home.
The activity was coordinated with our public relations agency, who selected specialized media (foodies, nutrition, mommy bloggers among others) to send them a kit of California raisins to their home. The kit included a mason jar with California raisins branded material and a digital recipe book with 5 healthy snacks made by our nutrition specialist Fernanda Alvarado.
Total results: 14 distributed media kits, more than 20 publications in digital and social media.
Also, we sent two press releases to specialized cooking, bakery, nutrition, and gastronomy media with the goal of sharing relevant information about the benefits of baking with California raisins. We also took the opportunity to talk about the history of National Raisin Day.
Imalinx executed a #StayHome campaign on behalf of the Idaho Potato Commission with the goal of creating a unique consumer program that encouraged potato consumption.
The proposal was executed by renowned chefs on the Mexican border: Adria Marina, Bianca Castro and Javier Plascencia, who developed home cooking recipes with Idaho potatoes as the main ingredient. The chefs used different digital platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram Lives and YouTube where they spread their own recipes.
Likewise, the activity was merged with a retail marketing strategy, with printed QR codes which, send the user to one of the recipes developed by the chefs. These eight recipes were published at the official site in a new section “Recipe of the week”.
The proposal was accompanied by a communication activity in Calimax, a supermarket chain in Tijuana, where different content with Idaho potatoes was published through social networks, as well as radio and television ads on its internal channel. As a surprise activity, people also participated in an activity to win exclusive prizes for the brand from their homes through platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
This year, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) sponsor the Superama Race, it took place on February 29, at the CU Stadium with a total of 5,000 runners in the categories of 5 or 10 km.
The sponsorship included two days of activation, the first one during the kit delivery and the second in the race, with a stand branded by CDFA, California Raisins and Halos Mandarins. The objective was to increase the brand awareness of the California Products and share key messages through a consumer kit delivered to the runners at the end of the race.
On both days the runners were invited to scan the QR code printed on a flyer made with recycled paper, the code sends them to a landing page with more information and the ones who completed their register was available to enjoy the product sampling. This dynamic was created for the generation of a database that resulted in 319 new contacts.
Our landing page had 478 visits, 429 clicks and a survey with runners favorite products:
36% Halo Mandarins
24% California Raisins
21% California Oranges
19% Wonderful Pistachios
The runners were so grateful about the product sampling because it was an excellent alternative for their recovery, after the effort made during the race.
We distributed 7,810 boxes of Wonderful Halos through an e-commerce strategy with Walmart Mexico.
In February we contacted the Walmart e-commerce department to develop a strategy that increases the brand awareness of the Wonderful Halos Mandarins. The main objective was to educate our customers on the goods of this Wonderful product.
With the e-commerce team of Walmart we coordinated the delivery of Halos surprises, a total of 25 Walmart stores from Mexico City and Guadalajara distributed 7,10 boxes with two halos mandarins inside (340 boxes for Mexico and 225 in Guadalajara) These boxes were sent to any customer which had purchased $200 pesos in fresh products.
SALES REPORT (Official data from Walmart E-commerce Department)