Divine Flavor to launch 'heroic' campaign at IFPA Show

Divine Flavor is set to launch its latest campaign — The Product Heroes — at the International Fresh Produce Association Global Produce and Floral Show in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 27-29.

Starting with the firm’s bell peppers and mini peppers, the Nogales, Ariz.-based Divine Flavor will introduce its first “product heroes” as a strategic approach to informing retailers and consumers about the health benefits of its commodities.

The company’s primary goal is to educate and make more people aware of how healthy peppers are and the high amounts of vitamin C they contain, according to a release.  

“Not many people realize this, but one serving of a bell pepper contains almost more than double the amount of vitamin C than oranges do,” said Michael DuPuis, public relations manager.

“Green bell peppers, which contain the least amount of vitamin C still have close to 200% of your daily value, and yellow, red and orange contain the most amount of vitamin C, which are well above that mark.”

Known as a grower of Mexican table grapes, Divine Flavor also specializes in other staple vegetable commodities such as organic and conventional greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, and squash/zucchini.

The company says it also has been gaining momentum in the Mexican bell pepper category in recent seasons. Divine Flavor, which recently announced its year-round bell pepper program, will produce peppers out of central Mexico through December until the west Mexico crop begins in Sinaloa.

While Divine Flavor says the campaign is mainly consumer-focused, relying heavily on social media and QR codes on the packaging to better inform shoppers, the company also wants to give a nod to its retailer and client allies.

“This campaign was not only intended for the business-to-consumer community, but also our retail partners,” DuPuis said. “We want our retailers to know they are also the heroes behind this marketing push because they are ones who also market, promote and sell at their stores to their customers.

“As a produce supplier, it is important for Divine Flavor to be a reliable source of healthy products for our retailers so they can continue delivering the fruits and veggies their customers have come to expect,” DuPuis continued. “They are also the heroes behind this movement.”

Divine Flavor will initiate the campaign with its pepper line up. The company says it plans to introduce more items as additional product heroes in the coming months, with the aim of shining a spotlight on the health facts of grapes, tomatoes and cucumbers.

“Our Product Heroes were created to link the health facts of our produce to certain vegetable heroes, starting with bell peppers and mini peppers,” said DuPuis. “We believe this is a fun and unique way for retailers to better market the products they sell, and for consumers to have a better understanding of the health facts associated to bell peppers — all tied together through a product hero.”