ORLANDO, FL – As the company continues to look towards highlighting seasonal produce and healthy eating resources, Produce for Kids has announced the launch of its new summer edition of the “We Heart RDs” program for retail dieticians, now mailed out monthly.
“In 2016, we heard from numerous retail dietitians looking for healthy eating support materials to share in-store with families,” said Trish James, Vice President of Produce for Kids. “Based on the number of requests, it made sense to condense our information into monthly kits so that these retail dietitians have timely, seasonal recipes, tips and resources to get families excited about filling their market basket with more produce.”
The program was launched last March in the form of a free kit containing family-focused healthy resources, recipes, and activities for retailers to utilize in-store. According to a press release, each kit contains the following components which switch out with each season and mailing:
- Counter card for easy identification of in-season produce
- Recipes for in-season produce
- “I’m a healthy eater” stickers
- Tips from the Produce for Kids team of blog contributors
For the summer season, Produce for Kids has partnered with the National Watermelon Promotion Board for summer kits which shipped on June 1. These kits contain summer eating tips from Produce for Kids, and a brochure from the Watermelon Board for fun and family-friendly water recipes for retail dietitians.
“The We Heart RDs kit has been a great resource for me as a corporate retail dietitian,” said Alyson Fendrick, RD, LD, CPT Corporate Dietitian for HAC Retail. “I love the materials as it gives us timely social and print media ideas, as well as live demo kits for in-store use. I can provide our customers with easy family meal options that fill their plate with produce.”
For August, the company stated that it will feature the Power Your Lunchbox Pledge by Produce for Kids for a back-to-school themed “We Heart Rds” kit. The Michigan Apple Committee and Avocados from Mexico are both planning to contribute materials for retail dietitians to share with shoppers.
Past instances of the kit included the third shipment, sent in May of 2016, which featured healthy tips for Mother’s Day, spring recipes, Cinco de Mayo recipes, and nutritional avocado information from Avocados from Mexico.
The “We Heart RDs” kits are currently utilized by over 300 retail dietitians, at 45 grocery stores in the U.S. and Canada. Interested dietitians can sign up for their free kits by going to produceforkids.com/rds, and supplement the kits by downloading printable materials, such as the Build Your Own series, and signing up for the e-newsletter.
As the industry continues to increase consumption of fresh produce for the next generation of consumers, AndNowUKnow will have the latest in program innovations and announcements.
