Produce for Kids celebrated with partners at the annual Produce for Kids reception at the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure asking the crowd of more than 200, “What’s Your Cause?” The “What’s Your Cause?” theme for the evening stems from Produce for Kid’s efforts to help the industry better understand the need and value of cause marketing campaigns.
Trish James
Trish James, vice president of Produce for Kids and chief marketing officer of Shuman Farms, addressed the crowd, “Today’s shoppers not only gravitate toward brands that give back, they are starting to expect and demand that brands do so. To reach these shoppers it is important for brands to define their cause in an age where consumers are expecting brands, companies and corporations to help make our world a better place by supporting a cause.”
Guests were encouraged to use the #WhatsYourCause hashtag throughout the reception and remainder of Southern Exposure hinging off of the chalk art, created by renowned 3-D chalk artist Shawn McCann, which was displayed at the Produce for Kids booth. For each photo taken at the Produce for Kids booth with the #WhatsYourCause art, Produce for Kids donated one meal to Feeding America. An additional meal was donated by posting the photo to social media using the hashtag.
John Shuman, president and chief executive officer of Shuman Farms and founder of Produce for Kids, opened the reception, and Greg Higgerson, vice president of development at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, addressed the audience regarding the state of childhood hunger in the Orlando area and the benefits from the Produce for Kids Publix campaigns.
“Through our cause marketing campaigns at Produce for Kids, we have raised $6.7 million for families in need since 2002 and $278,000 in 2018 alone,” said James.
Large checks were presented for each 2018 retail and Power Your Lunchbox campaign, which included Associated Wholesale Grocers Springfield Division, Associated Wholesale Grocers Gulf Coast Division, Associated Wholesale Grocers Oklahoma Division, Military Produce Group, Meijer Food Stores and Publix Super Markets.
