WENATCHEE, WA - Results are in for SweeTango’s new ad campaign, and they have left a pleasant taste in the mouths of consumers and the marketing team alike. This multi-media campaign utilized ads in podcasts as well as a full-length commercial for YouTube, and found enormous success across both platforms.
While the company provided a script, podcast ads were tailored to the vibe of each host’s show for better reception by their audiences. This allowed the most important information about the apples to shine through without distracting from the regularly scheduled programing by sounding too comercial-esque.
Presentation of the full-length commercial for YouTube consisted of fans of the SweeTango apple cheering for and entering a grocery store much like sporting fans would flood the stadium on game day. Entertaining apple fan gear, such as a foam fingers and face paint in the red hue of the fruit, helped to present the product in a fresh and enthusiastic light.
The numbers:
- Podcast ads reached 1.4 million listeners during September and October
- Downloads of podcasts including the ad were 34 percent over September projections
- YouTube ad reached 200,000 across the two months
- 33 percent of viewers watched the ad start to finish despite the ability to skip after 5 seconds
In addition to these impressive statistics provided in a recent SweeTango press release, Vox Media also chose to spotlight the commercial in a recent video on their YouTube channel.
While the results only include the months of September and October, the company will continue its campaign until the end of December. It hopes that the consistent success of both the podcast and YouTube ads will bolster sales as the final harvesting of SweeTango apples wraps up for the year.
AndNowUKnow will continue to report on the latest marketing campaign success stories, and the latest ad trends that keep consumers from clicking away.
LAKELAND, FL - Publix is broadening its reach across the South thanks to the addition of two new store locations, including one for its small-format specialty, natural, and organic GreenWise Market. Fort Lauderdale gets the honor of welcoming the new GreenWise Market, while Raleigh celebrated the grand opening of its new Publix yesterday, November 28, according to news source WRAL.
Fort Lauderdale now houses six GreenWise Markets, with the new location marking the second site for the new-format stores in South Florida.
“South Florida is such a large, diverse area, and we believe our customers in the Fort Lauderdale community will appreciate the environment and curated products at GreenWise Market,” said Senior Vice President of Retail Operations Kevin Murphy in a press release. “We’re excited to continue growing this new concept in our market area.”
The new GreenWise Market will set up shop on the southwest corner of Southeast Third Avenue and Southeast Second Street. The opening date has not yet been determined. The new traditional Publix store is located at 9640 Leesville Road, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Where will Publix take its traditional and GreenWise Market stores next? AndNowUKnow will continue to keep an eye peeled on what’s new in grocery retail.
VANCOUVER, CANADA - With operations throughout North America and across the globe, Catania Worldwide is a force to be reckoned with in more ways than one. But how does this produce giant accomplish such a great feat?
I spoke with Paul Catania, Owner and CEO, to try to glean some wisdom on how Catania Worldwide seems to only grow bigger with time.
“We grow, import, and distribute to all the retail that we work with through Canada and the USA. Our company as it began in 1929 focused on integrity and service, and I like to think that this many years later our focus is still on providing service and doing it with integrity,” Paul said to me.
Paul noted that Catania Worldwide is comprised of a Canadian company, an American company, and a Mexican company, and grows, ships, packs, and distributes to all three countries—talk about being busy!
In terms of what the company has going on now, Paul also explained that Catania’s American program just wrapped up, and that its Mexican program will run now till May and its California program will run June through October.
For more information, watch our exclusive interview above!
DUBLIN, CA - iTradeNetwork, the software company that provides easy and transparent supply chain solutions, has recently refreshed its flagship Order Management System (OMS) Solution. This refresh came out once the company identified a need to better serve mid-market retailers and distributors. I spoke with Trey Ruello, Director of Product for OMS Next-Gen, and Ashish Kumar, Director of Product Management for OMS Next-Gen, to learn more.
“Our existing OMS solution has a tremendous set of features and functionality, and we have found that all of those may not be suited for the mid-market segment,” Trey begins. “Thus, we set about rebuilding our OMS platform from scratch, focusing on the user experience and how we could be a better technology partner for our customers. For example, we’ve added a mobile interface—both for iOS and Android—that will allow our users to complete certain time critical tasks on-the-go, instead of being tethered to their computers at all hours of the day. In addition, we'll be bringing some of this enhanced functionality to our existing Enterprise OMS solution.”
The team built intelligence into the platform by coming up with the concept of an issue manager, which makes the system work for the user. The application keeps track of all items that need immediate attention and brings them to the forefront, making it easier for users to stay alert to time critical tasks.
“We are also looking to offer functionality to help our clients manage their entire procurement flow, features such as catalog upload, price maintenance, PO creation, shipping—including substitutions, load building, and logistics—along with invoicing. The new application is designed to be more self-service, helping our clients control on-boarding time and cost,” Trey elaborates.
Features within the program include:
- Full order to cash process
- Options that allow quick go to market or full back-end integration
- Event oriented dashboard and alerts
- Real-time commenting allowing collaboration between trading partners
- Work-in-progress prompts
- Detailed change management allowing trading partners to take appropriate action
- Supports multiple view ports; desktop, tablet, and mobile (iOS & Android)
- Enhanced self-service onboarding
The new solution benefits mid-market retailers for several reasons. Perishable ordering, as Trey and Ashish explain it to me, is a complex process and the OMS solution was developed primarily to cater to complex workflows. With the middle market requiring different needs, this solution was designed with them in mind.
“We are providing mid-market retailers with the advanced functionality our core OMS system delivers,” Ashish explains. “iTradeNetwork also has an existing network of more than 5,000 clients, so any new retailer using the solution will have immediate access to a significant population of vendors already on the platform. In addition, the enhanced user experience is geared towards fostering a collaborative workflow between trading partners, which makes communications, negotiations, and agreements easier and faster.”
Other benefits include:
- A complete packaged software solution focused on mid-market clients
- True SaaS offering, which will allow clients to get rid of current manual processes
- No individual connections with vendors, connect with iTN network model
- No need to have a separate technical team to manage platform or individual vendor connections
For more up-to-date news on how iTradeNetwork continues to offer forward-thinking solutions for our industry, stick with us at AndNowUKnow.
PASADENA, CA - Cuties® has launched a new holiday promotion, Spread the Cheer, to encourage consumers to share their favorite ways to give back during the holiday season. The campaign will also give five lucky winners a $1,000 shopping spree to help them make their charitable plans a reality.
Kate Reeb, Director of Marketing for Sun Pacific, commented in a recent press release that after the success of its most recent “Countdown to Cuties” promotion this fall, the company wanted “to keep this momentum going. We’re encouraging people to connect with us more personally about the things that motivate and bring them joy over the holiday season—the more we engage and connect with our shoppers, the better we can serve them in-store and online!”
Running until December 19th, Cuties will provide in-store merchandising, an iBotta digital coupon, food influencer partnerships, and targeted social media campaigns to boost consumption of its mandarins during the peak of the season.
Consumers have already begun to respond to the campaign on social media using the hashtag #SpreadTheCheer. Responses of charitable uses of Cuties Citrus include the creation of holiday fruit baskets, festive fruit salads, and snacks for seniors.
AndNowUKnow will continue to report on holiday promotions across the produce industry, and provide updates on the Cuties cheer campaign.
MCALLEN, TX - GR Fresh is fast approaching an auspicious anniversary—marking 70 years since company founder Juan Gonzalez Reyes first began Grupo GR, trucking produce throughout Mexico.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Tony Incaviglia, Vice President of Sales, about how the company has since gone on to become a vertically-integrated, multi-continental operation—growing out of Mexico and shipping to a growing customer base in the U.S.
“We've been a grower out of Mexico for about 70 years—still family owned—Grandfather still goes to work every day down in Mexico [at] 87 years old, and we still talk a lot about his vision going forward,” said Tony. “We've developed our new banner, GR Fresh, here in the states. Kinda redefined ourselves. Our opportunities have developed into more value-added packs geared toward more retail participation.”
Tony told me that the company’s 2018 season has been exceptional. Markets have been strong, and GR Fresh is currently on the upside of a serious growth spurt.
“We've taken the big step, last year, to develop some business out on the West Coast—California, Washington, and Oregon area. We've been centered and so focused out of McAllen that a lot of our business has been Midwest and East,” Tony noted. “We're looking at more of the Los Angeles business.”
To learn more about the company’s expansion efforts, now and throughout the last seven decades, watch our brief interview above. And look out for our exclusive story in December’s issue of The Snack Magazine.
For more fresh-focused news, keep reading AndNowUKnow.
CALIFORNIA - As the FDA continues its investigation into the source of the recent romaine E. coli scare, the organization is now targeting its efforts on six specific California ag counties: Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Ventura. The FDA also noted that additional counties may join the list as the investigation continues. Further, there is still no confirmed source for the E. coli outbreak.
“We have had boots on the ground collecting environmental, soil, and water samples for laboratory analysis to identify whether they contain E. coli since last week. Should positive samples be identified, we will update the public promptly,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D. said in a tweet dated November 28. The FDA did note in a release that it was still in the “preliminary” stages of its traceback information gathering process, but “current evidence” indicates this romaine was harvested in the Central Coast growing regions of northern and central California.
There is currently no recommendation for consumers or retailers to avoid romaine lettuce from outside the previously listed counties. Romaine lettuce harvested from areas that include, but are not limited to, the desert growing region near Yuma, the California desert growing region near Imperial County and Riverside County, the state of Florida, and Mexico, does not appear to be related to the current outbreak. Additionally, there is no evidence hydroponically- and greenhouse-grown romaine is related to the current outbreak.
The FDA also noted that it will be moving forward with its previously announced voluntary labeling agreement with suppliers. Romaine lettuce entering the market will now be labeled with a harvest location and a harvest date or labeled as being hydroponically- or greenhouse-grown.
As the produce industry continues to lie in wait for the FDA to unearth the source of the E. coli, AndNowUKnow will provide you with the latest updates available.
LAPORTE COUNTY, IN - The spooky season might be long gone for the mainstream folks, but us goths know spooky is more than just a season—it’s a way of life. Fellow goth chain, I mean, retail chain, Dollar General recently embodied some spooktacular vibes after eyeing an abandoned warehouse in LaPorte County, Indiana, as the next location for its latest distribution center.
According to news source NWI.com, the 680,000-square-foot warehouse is currently undergoing a $24 million renovation. Dollar General is set to occupy almost 300,000 square feet of that space and create 80 jobs. The chain also requested a five-year tax abatement for the $8 million worth of new equipment it is planning to use in that space. A LaPorte County Council will vote on the tax abatement in January.
The Westville facility, as the warehouse is known as, is housed on 90 acres along U.S. 421 and has been a food warehouse since the 1970s—which is perfect for Dollar General since it too will be using the facility to store and distribute food.
The Kokomo Perspective reports that Matt Reardon, Director at the Office of Economic Development for LaPorte County government, said Dollar General plans to move into the building in May of 2019 and be completely moved in by August. Renovations are slated to finish by June of 2019.
For the latest haunts grocery retail chains are restoring for fresh food purposes, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.
MONTEREY, CA - Calling all retailers and buying organizations! The time has come for you to register for the fourth annual Organic Produce Summit! That’s right, registration is now open for qualified individuals from retail or buying organizations directly dealing with consumers. And if OPS isn't incentive enough to sign up ASAP, these organizations are also eligible for complimentary registration and accommodation for the July 10-11, 2019 event!
“We are thrilled with the tremendous feedback and response from the organic community the past three years, and we’re looking to make OPS 2019 the best yet. We’re putting together a dynamic program that features impactful and relevant educational sessions touching on important industry issues and objectives, and a series of keynote presentations from leaders in the organic retail community,” said show President Susan Canales. “Our sold-out trade show floor has been slightly enlarged to accommodate 10 more booths than last year, but we will retain the intimacy and energy our attendees are seeking. We’ll be releasing components of our program in the coming months and expect another outstanding event.”
According to a press release, OPS 2019 will mirror the successful formats of the past three Organic Produce Summits, including an informative series of educational sessions, engaging keynote presentations, and a show floor that will feature 140 organic growers, shippers, and processors from across North America. This year, retailers and buyers will also have the opportunity to tour one of the nation’s largest and well-respected organic fresh produce organizations, with complete details of the field tour program to come in the next few weeks.
The 2019 Organic Produce Summit will be held at the Monterey Convention Center, in Monterey, CA. General attendee registration will open in mid-January, 2019. For further information about the fourth annual Organic Produce Summit, click here.
DALLAS, TX - Continuing its restructuring trend, Albertsons and its southern division banner, Tom Thumb, are shuttering stores that have thus far been deemed unprofitable. In addition to the stores set to close by December 1, one more Tom Thumb store in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas, will be closing by January.
The store closing is located at 3533 Belt Line Road at Northgate. There are currently no Albertsons set to close in Irving. However, according to local news source, The Dallas News, Albertsons' Tom Thumb banner is building new locations in Uptown Dallas and east of downtown near the Deep Ellum DART train stop.
Are these store closures and openings a sign of success or a harbinger of stormy days ahead? AndNowUKnow will continue to report the latest in retail happenings.