BAKERSFIELD, CA - Cal-Organic Farms, a subsidiary of Grimmway Farms, one of the largest carrot producers in the world, has launched an integrated marketing campaign, which is designed to bridge the gap between organic consumers and organic farmers. The new Handled with Care campaign, which began a year ago with primary research on organic shoppers, aims to raise awareness of the Cal-Organic brand among health-minded, food-forward consumers and is the first direct-to-consumer marketing campaign under the Cal-Organic brand.
“We know consumer preferences around organic produce are both profound and evolving,” said Kellen Stailey, Vice President of Marketing at Grimmway Farms. “After gaining a clearer picture of what those attitudes look like, we felt it was the right time to tell our story. We knew going in that the organic industry is emotionally-charged. What we didn’t know was the extent to which the brand was already playing a pivotal role in produce departments. We also got a firm understanding of the aided and unaided awareness of the Cal-Organic brand. When we looked at the various data points, we recognized that our consumers’ behaviors around organic produce consideration, purchase, and loyalty are shifting, and we needed to address that change.”
The Handled with Care campaign features a branded content initiative in partnership with Tastemade, an eight-year old platform that garners 2 billion impressions each month and reaches a millennial and Gen Z audience.
“We are seeing more and more energy put toward raising brand awareness, encouraging trial, and building loyalty in fresh organic produce. And it makes perfect sense. There’s some confusion in the marketplace amongst consumers as to what exactly ‘organic’ means, why it’s important, and how farms are upholding the integrity of the USDA organic certification. We wanted to address those things in our dialogue with consumers,” said Eric Proffitt, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Grimmway Farms in a press release.
Proffitt continued, “We looked at a number of potential platforms and partners. But once we’d drilled down to our very specific objectives for the campaign, we knew Tastemade was the right fit—its hard-earned audience are the young, upwardly mobile, and food-forward consumers that will be driving trends for years to come. We are not a mass advertising kind of company. We wanted to take our message to a place where people are already talking about food, looking for inspiration, and planning their next culinary adventure.”
As part of the campaign, Cal-Organic has already launched a Kale Toast and Dijon Salmon recipe video on Tastemade’s Facebook and Instagram. To follow the Handled with Care campaign as it rolls out an episodic docuseries and more recipes through April and May, keep checking in on Tastemade's social media, and to stay in the know on marketing efforts throughout the produce industry, keep reading AndNowUKnow.
