Oct 06, 2020
ARLINGTON, VA -- September is a busy time for USA Rice as promotional programming is launched to celebrate National Rice Month (NRM) and the many contributions the U.S. industry makes to the nation.
“This September marked the 30th anniversary of NRM, and our team responded accordingly, with ramped up social media, recipe contests, and giveaways, all month-long,” said Michael Klein, USA Rice vice president for marketing, communications, and domestic promotion.
Daily social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram gave consumers a reason to #thinkrice every day, and featured rice recipes, nutritional information, sustainability facts, cooking tips, meet the farmer profiles, and much more. The robust social schedule yielded tremendous results for the month with more than 128,000 impressions and 1,212 new followers.
The USA Rice team of nutrition influencers shared NRM talking points and rice nutritional information with their extensive networks. The Registered Dietitians (RD) created six new rice recipes in honor of NRM that were distributed through individual blog posts and highlighted the nutritional benefits of U.S.-grown rice.
Two NRM contests challenged consumers on their rice knowledge, both factual and practical. The first giveaway was a U.S.-grown rice trivia contest in which three lucky winners received NRM prize packs filled with 30th anniversary branded cooking aprons, tote bags, koozies, and rice paddles. The second giveaway was for a rice recipe contest made with short or medium grain rice accompanied by a quote on why the home cooks love using U.S.-grown rice. The grand prize included a 30th NRM prize pack plus an Aroma rice cooker and samples of U.S.-grown rice.
“The winning recipes were Toasted Rice & Chicken Soup and Refreshing Pineapple Rice,” said Klein. “What really made those two dishes stand out were their quotes. One winner called US.-grown rice ‘a versatile pantry must-have that makes it easy to pull together quick, delicious, and nutritious meals my whole family loves!’ The other winner said, ‘I love using U.S.-grown rice because I know each grain is carefully harvested and packaged with love. What makes eating U.S.-grown rice even better is having the opportunity to support the hard-working farmers, mill operators, truck drivers, and everyone else in between!’”
Special-themed editions of USA Rice consumer and foodservice newsletters were distributed and filled with historical information on the 30th anniversary, ways to celebrate, recipe inspiration, and additional rice resources.
September also is Whole Grains Month and USA Rice joined the Whole Grain Council in sponsoring “The Grainies,” awards that recognize consumers who “choose whole grains” by submitting whole grain recipe entries or posting products with the whole grain stamp to social media. The Grainies received more than 200 entries and 10 winners were chosen.
“This NRM wrap-up doesn’t even touch on partnership promotions with rice cooker manufacturer Zojirushi and a wildly successful NRM recipe contest sponsored by FeedFeed, an online forum connecting people who love to cook,” said Klein. “Look for those stories in future Daily posts.”