ARLINGTON, VA -- Eight major grocery chains with more than 1,200 store locations in 23 states have used USA Rice messages and recipes to promote U.S.-grown rice to their customers this fall. Overall, promotion activities by these stores earned USA Rice an additional 3.9 million impressions among consumers during September and October.
“We were beyond thrilled to get such a positive response to our program this fall,” said Katie Maher, director, domestic promotion programs. “These numbers are especially impressive because USA Rice did not pay for any of the partnership activities. Each month we see growth in this program and expand to new stores and audiences.”
USA Rice recipe cards were distributed through Big Y, Giant Eagle, Meijer’s, and Skogen’s Festival Foods to more than 1 million shoppers during September as a National Rice Month (NRM) promotion. As an extra effort, Meijer, Giant Eagle, Jewel Osco, Raley’s, and Big Y stores used Twitter and Facebook to link consumers to recipes and reached a combined 1.8 million viewers through social media.
Redner’s featured rice in the September/October issue of their HealthCents newsletter. A full-page article titled “Reach for Rice” told readers how to select the best type of rice for their dish and passed along nutrition facts on each type along with a USA Rice recipe. The newsletter reaches more than 30,000 shoppers in-store and online.
Dietitian blogs were also a popular tool with supermarkets. Jewel Osco posted information and graphics from USA Rice’s Healthy Rice Bowls materials to more than 150,000 readers. “Tasty and Healthy Options with Whole Grains” was the title of the blog post from Lowes Foods’ dietitian in October. The post featured USA Rice’s consumer infographic 10 Reasons to Eat Rice Grown in the USA. Raley’s Season Blog blog promoted the infographic and shared two recipes perfect for California shoppers looking for locally grown products.