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.
During the month of December, Imalinx coordinated a program with 5 renowned chefs from mexico who had the opportunity to cook with dried fruits, dairy and fresh products.
With the aim of promoting the consumption of products such as yellow onions, raisins, California cheese and butter during the holiday season, Imalinx with the support of Beto Lanz coordinatedthis program with 5 renowned chefs across Mexico.
Participating Chefs: Pablo Salas, Bianca Castro, Andrea Martínez, Juan Emilio Villaseñor and Christian González, who developed easy-to-replicate recipes using the previously mentioned ingredients as the star ingredient.
Each of the recipes were published on the Chef’s own digital channels and replicated on the social networks of the brand in order to amplify the reach.
Pablo Salas, from the Amaranta Restaurant, developed a recipe of NY Sliders with yellow onion.
Bianca Castro. Biscottis Pastry baked a total of 3 recipes with California raisin butter, as well as a yellow onion crumble.
Andrea Martinez, from Casa Liebre prepared 2 recipes with California cheese and butter and a pork rind in Raisin Adobo. Also a Pasta made by yellow onion
Juan Emilio Villaseñor, from La Cocinoteca presents us with a recipe for mole with raisins, a butter with garlic and yellow onion stuffed with Cod.
Christian González from Boulangerie Amasijo, innovated by creating a raisin chamoy and a crisp shortbread based on California butter.
Luis Serdio from Corazón de Pollo, with a unique concept of gourmet rotisserie offered a limited edition Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Mac&Cheese box with California cheeses.
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.