The Texas onion industry is touting a successful season for TX1015 sweet onions due to marketing activities that drew a larger audience empowering people to support local foods, according to a news release. These include an online social influencer program, sweepstakes, restaurant week promotion, KSAT TV partnership and more.
As digital marketing drives grocery sales, enacting a strong influencer program was key to reaching millennial and younger age brackets, the release said. The creators included recipe developers, authors and bloggers passionate about creating stunning meals — with local ingredients at the heart of their cooking. The total number of reactions including views, likes, comments, shares and engagement was 343,165.
The Third Annual Restaurant Week returned to the Rio Grande Valley with 17 food trucks and restaurants that created dishes using the TX1015 sweet onion, the release said. The campaign encouraged establishments to take their cooking skills to new heights by making creative recipes while staying true to their cooking style.
This year a finale event was held at the McAllen Food Truck Park where attendees gathered to celebrate local food, music and arts and had the opportunity to taste the sweet creations for themselves. Online promotions for the event and public voting garnered a 2,200% increase in brand awareness, the release said.
“Our marketing activities are created to spark a connection between the product and the consumer,” Texas International Produce Association President Dante Galeazzi said in the release. “It is imperative to tell the story of our state vegetable, and by enacting a range of well-developed and specifically targeted tactics, we are expanding the sweet onion category one layer at a time.”
The team also released “Sweet Flavors of The Lone Star State: A TX1015 Cookbook,” highlighting trending recipes, fun facts and educational tidbits. The book intends to provide the average shopper the tools to find their inner chef, the release aid. From main dishes to enticing snacks, the recipe collection showcases the nutritious and delicious attributes the TX1015 offers and the diversity of its use.
For the second year in a row, David Elder, host of “Texas Eats,” created an on-air segment along with social posts highlighting the TX1015 sweet onion, the release said. Historical facts, a raw onion taste test and a new recipe were just a few examples of the content Edler posted. The partnership reached current and future Texas shoppers looking for new items to add to their grocery list. The total social reactions were 52,169.
“On behalf of the Texas Onion Industry, we are proud of the accomplishments we saw from this year’s campaign,” Galeazzi said. “Texas grows by more than 850 citizens per day, which is a lot of new people to introduce the TX1015 sweet onion to. By establishing stronger connections within major Texas and national markets, we continue to increase recognition and consumer preference, putting Texas onions in a great position for next season.”
This work was funded, in whole or in part, by the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service under the Specialty Crop Block Grant administered by the Texas Department of Agriculture.
For more information, crop reports, updates, marketing tools, videos, recipes and everything TX1015 sweet onions, visit tx1015.com.
