Special delivery
Oct 19, 2020
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – U.S.-grown rice is being delivered directly to consumers’ doorsteps here thanks to a partnership with Meal Box, the leading food delivery company in Turkey.
“Meal Box has experienced remarkable growth since the COVID-19 pandemic began this past spring, and now caters to more than 2,000 individuals daily, a hundred-fold increase in their clientele,” said Eszter Somogyi, USA Rice director for Europe, Middle East, and Africa. “Most Meal Box customers are white-collar workers who appreciate the company’s emphasis on high-quality ingredients like U.S.-grown rice.”
USA Rice joined efforts with Meal Box to develop branded delivery boxes, as well as promotional packaging featuring the USA Rice logo on each dish containing U.S.-grown rice. A recipe leaflet with creative USA Rice recipes and giveaways rounded out the special rice-centric offer.
“More than 8,000 servings of U.S. rice have been distributed to subscribers in these eye-catching, single-serve USA Rice boxes, utilizing close to 1 MT of U.S. rice in total,” said Somogyi. “USA Rice messaging is reaching a large, prosperous audience through social media, both on the @mealboxtr Instagram channel, and the reposting and sharing of content by Meal Box subscribers.”
The U.S. has exported 27,000 tons ($14 million) of rice to Turkey in the first half of 2020 compared with 1,220 tons ($1.1 million) in the first six months of 2019.