Instacart launches random-weight ads for produce brands
Instacart ads are now including brands such as Bowery Farming, California Giant Berry Farms, Gotham Greens, Grapes from California, Love Beets, Mastronardi Produce, NatureSweet, Sunkist, The California Sweetpotato Council and The Florida Department of Agriculture.
Why is that significant?
This is an industry-first online advertising capability, enabling produce brands to advertise fresh, weighted items — such as carrots, grapes, onions, oranges, sweet potatoes and watermelons — from the produce department across the Instacart Marketplace, according to a news release. The announcement is in collaboration with a March 24 White House event that continues the work started at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health to help end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030.
During National Nutrition Month, Instacart is making it possible for more produce brands, farms and agriculture boards to advertise on Instacart and reach more consumers.
“It's essential that consumers have access to fresh, nutritious produce, whether they shop online or in-store,” Instacart Vice President of Ads Product Ali Miller said in the release. “Online grocery offers a unique experience, helping brands deeply connect with and engage consumers as they explore new products or their usual staples across the digital aisles.
This ad capability levels the playing field for produce, enabling everything from fresh citrus to sweet potatoes are just as discoverable as packaged goods, Miller said.
Weighted items weigh in
Instacart says it’s the first company to do this ad innovation for weighted items across grocery partners.
The company developed algorithms to map these weighted items back to brands and partners while addressing challenges such as limited information from third-party sources and different coding systems across grocers.
While packaged produce could be advertised before, this new expansion allows random weight items to be advertised through the sponsored product offering, which gives brands premium placements. The new ad capability will be available for all random weight foods found in Instacart’s grocery partners’ aisles, including fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, cheeses, nuts and deli items.
Sunkist Growers’ first advertisement celebrated California's “Orange Day” in 1908, Sunkist Growers Senior Director Christina Ward said in the release.
Related: Instacart's new tools to help indie grocers, along with big retail chains
“In recent years, shopper behaviors have dramatically changed — at Sunkist, we are all about meeting shoppers where they want to buy,” Ward said. “On Instacart, we have a seamless ‘add-to-cart’ button to guide millions of people across the country towards our fresh Sunkist fruits, which are then delivered to their homes in as fast as an hour.”
Designated a superfood, California’s sweet potatoes are ideal to spotlight during National Nutrition Month, said Sarah Alvernaz of the California Sweetpotato Council.
“Instacart has pioneered a new way for us to amplify sweetpotatoes online,” she said. “We’re proud to be an early adopter of Instacart’s new ad capability to help promote fresher and healthier options across their Marketplace.”
Instacart Health
The March 24 launch comes on the heels of continued momentum for Instacart Health, including a special Community Carts campaign and discounted Instacart+ membership offer for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.
These initiatives were designed to support families and food banks across the country as emergency COVID-19 SNAP benefits expired in 32 states.
Now using Instacart, anyone can donate groceries to food banks in states where emergency COVID-19 SNAP benefits have expired, with no delivery or service fees. Also, by extending the company’s discounted Instacart+ memberships for SNAP recipients, more families are able to put more food on the table.
Packaged produce
Since 2020, Instacart has partnered with almost 60 packaged produce advertisers. On average, Instacart’s packaged-produce advertisers see a 30% increase in sales, meaning their ads influence more produce purchases, according to the release.
Packaged produce advertisers can leverage the full Instacart advertising toolkit, including sponsored product, display, shoppable video, promotions and impulse ads.
Related: Instacart and NY's Foodcellar Market to pilot Scan & Pay checkout
With this latest enhancement to Instacart advertising and catalog capabilities, produce brands can now amplify the full product set, including packaged and random weight produce.
For example, with impulse ads, Instacart is introducing a digital-first approach to last-minute buys during the checkout experience, including fresh produce brands. Bowery Farming, Love Beets, NatureSweet and Zespri Kiwifruit now have access to new impulse-dedicated placements that give people fresher, healthier choices as they’re completing their checkout.
“By leveraging Instacart’s advertising solutions, we’re able to amplify our berries to the top of the digital shelf, giving us the unique opportunity to connect and reach new consumers shopping online nationwide, while supporting our trade partners to successfully deliver our products through to the last mile,” said Kyla Oberman, director of Marketing at California Giant Berry Farms.
Travis Laveault, senior digital manager at NatureSweet, said it’s great to see a fresh take on impulse purchases at the digital checkout.
“When people search for fresh produce on Instacart, we want to make sure NatureSweet shows up. As early adopters of Instacart's impulse ads, we're partnering to promote our fresh tomatoes in a ‘surprise and delight’ moment.”
Instacart is currently working with produce brands and agriculture boards during the pilot stages of random weight advertising, with general availability rolling out over the coming weeks.
