Side Delights Steamables program focuses on bloggers

Fresh Solutions Network LLC is rolling out an initiative that seeks marketing help from food bloggers for Side Delights Steamables brand potatoes.

Side Delights is building on its food blogger collective to share potato recipes. A recent challenge, #MashItOrSmashIt, resulted in new recipes featuring Steamables, garnering nearly two million impressions in the 30 days following the challenge, according to a news release.

This new challenge leverages the popularity of potato salads. The #potatosaladredux program, executed in April, includes potato salad recipes which are low in fat and calories and feature Side Delights Steamables.

The recipes will be released in May, said Kathleen Triou, president and CEO of the San Francisco company.

The company received “seven or eight” new recipes in April, she said.

“We give them a month to design and develop the recipes per the guidelines; we’ll start to release probably one a week throughout the month of May,” Triou said. “They’ve been challenged, and now we get to enjoy the fruits of their work.”

Making Steamables central to a green salad or potato salad “emphasizes the performance potatoes deliver across a range of potato salad options,“ Triou said.

The program engages food bloggers, home cooks and food influencers who share recipes through social media channels, building brand awareness. Blog posts and photos will link to sidedelights.com with the hashtag #potatosaladredux. The #potatosaladredux program will be amplified with social media posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, according to the release.

Retailers benefit, according to the release, because shopping baskets that have Side Delights Steamables potatoes average nearly twice the register ring of a basket with any produce — $108 versus $56.