DEWITT, MI - Asparagus spears festooned produce aisles this past summer, but alas, the Michigan asparagus season has come to an end. As the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board (MAAB) looks ahead to the next year, retail promotions, a new website, social promotions, and a giveaway collaboration were some key highlights of the 2023 season.
“As we end the season, we are proud that our marketing efforts played a role in driving sales,” remarked Jamie Clover Adams, Executive Director of the MAAB. “But looking ahead, we know we still have work to do for the 2024 season and beyond to help buyers and consumers understand the quality opportunity in Michigan Asparagus and lock in sales that support our domestic growers.”
The Michigan asparagus season kicked off with the launch of a new website that offered a more user-friendly experience, providing visitors the opportunity to access additional content that is interactive and informative with recipes and grower highlights.
Throughout the season, noted the release, online food influencers were part of the hype machine developing new recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to provide meal inspiration and incentivize purchases. Michigan Asparagus worked with three influencers who created 17 recipes and helped yield over 308,038 impressions across social media on both Facebook and Instagram.
The buzz around the flavorful and tender nature of asparagus was apparent through over 45,025,273 million impressions generated through national food media and regular content on social.
New this year was a social giveaway collaboration with American Kitchen. The “Cooking the American Dream Giveaway” highlighted the American-grown and -made products perfect for kitchen and family meals. That storytelling also included a new video series highlighting the delectable attributes and benefits of Michigan Asparagus.
Retailers also did their part with promotions that included digital promos, in-store displays, and demos to incentivize purchases.
More updates and releases are always a click away, so keep an eye out for the ANUK apple.
