Side Delights announced a cutting-edge virtual reality video and podcast-based program that invites consumers to step into our potato fields and experience for themselves why our potatoes are “Grown Where it Matters.”
Visitors to Fresh Solutions Network booth No. 3940 at PMA Fresh Summit in Anaheim, CA, will enjoy a sneak preview of the VR videos with 3D goggles that immerse viewers in the unique and fascinating world of potato farming.
Locally grown products are a $20 billion industry, and most industry analysts will agree that there are three significant trends in potatoes for 2019: Local, Organic and Knowing your Farmer. For an expanding segment of consumers, the grower’s story is equally important to the product. Engaging with consumers through storytelling is a powerful marketing tool, as shoppers take an increasing interest in growing practices, harvests, packaging, and the role sustainability plays in the production cycle.
“What better way to tell our story than through immersive 360? VR videos and a podcast series?” said Kathleen Triou, president and CEO of Fresh Solutions Network.
The Side Delights brand is sourced from farms in eight geographically diverse growing areas located near the largest population centers in the United State. The result is a national brand with strong affinities to local markets.
“Potatoes taste best when they reflect the true sense of the soil where they are grown,” Triou said, adding that the concept of “Grown Where it Matters” connects the Fresh Solutions Network farms and farmers with their regionally relevant market, deepening the relationship that customers have with Side Delights potatoes.
As consumers engage with the story and history of FSN farms, they will come to understand how the sustainability practices and passion of the farmers result in a better tasting, higher-quality potatoes. Shoppers will also gain knowledge about the heritage and personality of the farmer, and the generations before them, creating a stronger personal shopper journey.
The program kicked off with grassroots PR marketing efforts including the “Adopt a Potato Farmer” food blogger program with blog posts generated from interviews with FSN farmers including family favorite potato recipes and photos.
With its launch at PMA Fresh Summit, Side Delights is now supporting the “Grown Where it Matters” program with in-store POS including farm/state specific Kwik Lok tags and eye-catching potato display cards. Both these items direct shoppers to the digital activations via a new farm specific website page www.sidedelights.com/who-we-are where they can experience the 360° virtual farm tours and hear podcast interviews where farmers share in their own voices what it’s like to farm potatoes. All this will be amplified by social media and a 2020 digital ad campaign.
“’Grown Where it Matters’ engages and immerses consumers in the farm where their potatoes are grown,” noted Triou. “The program’s digital and in-store communications are designed to educate shoppers about where their potatoes are grown, the passion that the farmers have about growing fresh, quality potatoes, and the hope that these types of farms will carry on for the next generation.”
