With the aim to increase the visibility of Zespri sungold kiwis, Imalinx oversaw coordinating a point-of-sale merchandising program in 15 HEB stores throughout the state of Nuevo León.
A promotion route was carried out in which the Kiwis Zespri displays were highlighted with the implementation of POP materials that captured the attention of multiple consumers.
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%
Street Vendors is a promotional program in which Imalinx supports vendors in traditional markets by setting up displays with added value elements to increase the exposure of Zespri kiwifruit in the traditional channel.
Some of the traditional markets that benefited from the program were in Mexico City, Toluca, Puebla, Hidalgo, and Querétaro. Part of the support given to the vendors consisted of the adequate accommodation of the product, placement of POP materials and materials to offer tastings to their customers.
The biggest success of the Street Vendor program was the sales increase within the traditional channel.
Six companies from the Western United States belonging to WUSATA, participated in ANTAD 2022, offering their products in the show’s American pavilion, meeting with self-service buyers with the aim of incorporating their products into the Mexican market. The attending companies were:
Imalinx oversaw assisting the American companies with the coordination of meetings with supermarkets, importers and distributors in the booth and outside of it, achieving the presence of more than 15 importers and supermarkets at the event.
This edition of ANTAD turned out to be effective, since our visiting companies from the Western United States were able to set up successful meetings with several buyers in search of new products.
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 behalf of the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA), an inbound trade mission was carried out in Idaho and Oregon with 4 buyers from Mexico with the objective of meeting with exporters of onions in both states. The following companies participated in the trade mission:
• Casa Chávez
• Frescos del Sureste
• Comestibles Maldonado
• Coliman
The buyers visited Idaho and Oregon to meet with 6 exporters and learn about their facilities and the harvesting process. As a result of the trade mission, there were purchases of around 4-6 loads of onion by importers.
For the end of the 2021 season, Imalinx coordinated a sampling session with Sam’s Club to increase the brand visibility of Zespri SunGold kiwifruit.
The first step was to provide an extensive training to the demo personnel so that they could share the key messages, a little history of the product and its benefits with consumers.
In addition we provide brand materials, such as: branded stand, aprons, face mask, tasting trays (just kiwi SunGold), fruit for tasting, banners, Zespri spoons in each of the samplings for our customers.
Among the comments of customers, it was highlighted that Zespri Kiwi SunGold has a unique and sweet taste, and as a result of this sampling we had an increase in sales of Kiwi Zespri SunGold of 75%, this comparing to 4 weeks prior to the activity.
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:
Public relations programs changed completely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the face-to-face events were canceled, and brand launches migrated to digital.
Fernanda Alvarado, is a teacher in community nutrition with an International Master’s degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the European University of the Atlantic. She is co-author of the Manual “Learning to Live with Diabetes” of the Universidad Iberoamericana and for more than 10 years, she has been working on the creation of editorial content related to nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for the food industry.
Fernanda is convinced that digital media are an important vehicle for prevention and health care, which is why she generates content that seeks to improve the diet of Mexicans and publishes them on her Blog Bien Comer, Instagram profile with more than 15,300 followers; and YouTube channel with 54,300 subscribers; she also hosts a podcast, a leader in the nutrition, health and wellness category.
Due to the impact of her communication, Imalinx decided to work with Fernanda to increase brand awareness of Pasitas de California, Real California Milk and Kiwi Zespri Vita in the nutritional field.
The campaigns lasted 12 months where 100% digital activities were developed to talk about the benefits of incorporating raisins in the daily diet, even in the bakery, as well as fighting the myths of dairy and promoting its qualities of a natural product . On the other hand, the Kiwi Zespri had a great boost by positioning it as a fruit that provides more than 100% of the vitamin C necessary for an average adult.
Among the most outstanding activities is the Well Eating podcast recorded together with Chef Irving Quiroz to talk about Diet and Bread, with key messages of the contribution of raisins in the bakery. Said podcast reached the # 1 position of the most listened to podcast in 2020. (Listen to it here)
As well as a Youtube Live with Sol Sigal, to talk about the benefits of vitamin C in high performance athletes. And YouTube videos with topics such as: “Are dairy necessary?” / Raisins, a healthy sugar substitute “/” All about butter “/” Dairy myths “. With a total of +121, 245 views.