Commodity boards and individual companies have launched a variety of programs to connect with consumers and move more tropicals off supermarket shelves.
Again this year, the Orlando, Fla.-based National Mango Board is working with national print media to get out the word about fresh mangoes through recipes, meetings, special events and research, said Megan McKenna, director of marketing.
“We are reaching out to newspapers with pre-formatted black-and-white as well as full-color recipe articles — one in the spring/summer and one in the fall,” she said.
The board also is working with dietitians to spread the word about fresh mangoes and continues to have a strong presence in social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the board’s own blog, she said.
The board is sponsoring a conversation with mommy bloggers through Blog Frog, which McKenna said has 65,000 influential women bloggers as members, 70% of whom have children at home.
The mango also board will host test-kitchen seminars with celebrity chef Aarti Sequeira to promote print coverage in national magazines.
Finally, the board’s retail team sets up retail promotions that coincide with the flow of the crop, she said, and offers point-of sale materials year-round.
Brooks Tropicals Inc., based in Homestead, Fla., has a Simple Math Guacamole Sweepstakes involving social media going on with Concord Foods guacamole mix, said Mary Ostlund, director of marketing.
To promote the sweepstakes, the company is conducting a social media campaign that includes weekly trivia contests.
The promotion will wind down in September, but another was being planned for fall.
Brooks Tropicals also was receiving a great response to it monthly newsletter, “Cooking with the Tropicals,” she said.
The newsletter offers ways to use tropicals in everything from appetizers to desserts, Ostlund said.
The September issue features star fruit, October will spotlight papayas, and, for the holidays, a nutritionist will offer gift suggestions.
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