The inaugural Produce for Kids Mission for Nutrition promotion, in celebration of National Nutrition Month, saw success in its first year by aligning with health-conscious brands, commodities and retail dietitians.
The online and in-store program focused on the importance of a healthy family diet and the value of meal planning and prepping, while aiming to increase the consumption of fresh produce.
Jennifer Klein, a retail dietitian for Shop Rite in Manchester, NJ, was awarded the Mission for Nutrition Scholarship from Produce for Kids.
Mission for Nutrition kits filled with health-focused items for display were delivered to more than 400 retail dietitians at 52 retailers across the United States and Canada. Dietitians were encouraged to create a display or host an event with these items and submit photos to be considered for a $1,000 continued education scholarship.
This year’s scholarship winner is Jennifer Klein, who is a retail dietitian at the ShopRite of Manchester, NJ.
“I am honored to be the recipient of the scholarship,” said Klein. “Throughout the month of March, I used the recipes from the Mission for Nutrition kit during multiple in-store demos and cooking classes. Our ShopRite kids cooking class especially loved the barbeque chicken tamale recipe.”
Retail dietitians across the country utilized the materials with Girl Scout groups, store tours, informational displays, recipe demonstrations and more. More than 22,000 mini-magazines featuring partnering health-conscious brands were distributed in stores.
Brands partnering in the program include Avocados From Mexico, Crispy Green, Earthbound Farm, Eat Smart, NatureFresh Farms, Pero Family Farms, RealSweet and the National Watermelon Promotion Board.
“We are thrilled to present Jennifer with this scholarship,” said Trish James, vice president at Produce for Kids. “Consumers really latched on to the hashtag #MissionforNutrition, and by the end of the month we certainly had a strong conversation taking place.”
The promotion saw more than 126 million impressions across the program’s website visitation, public relations, influencer outreach, Healthy Family Project podcast “Healthy Bites” segments, meal planning eBook downloads, e-newsletters, social media and Twitter party. During the month of March, 12,000 consumers entered to win a weekly giveaway focused on meal prep kitchen gadgets.
The partner brands and commodities included samples, coupons, brochures or promotional items in the kits distributed to retail dietitians. In addition, partners were featured in branded recipes, meal plans and a sweepstakes on themissionfornutrition.com as well as being featured in targeted e-newsletters, Produce for Kids social media channels, influencer outreach and mentions in the “Healthy Bites” portion of The Healthy Family Project by Produce for Kids podcast.
On themissionfornutrition.com, consumers were able to download a free meal planning eBook featuring a five-day, registered dietitian-approved family meal plan, shopping list and meal planning tips.
As with all Produce for Kids programs, Feeding America’s programs that benefit families and children will receive a $8,000 donation tied to Mission for Nutrition. Produce for Kids has raised more than $6.7 million for charities that benefit families and children since 2002.
