Independent Grocers Serve Up Fresh Watermelon Ideas
The Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) has joined forces with the National Watermelon Promotion Board (NWPB) on a second-half 2025 shopper marketing and retailer education campaign created to increase watermelon awareness, drive in-store engagement, and help IGA retailers provide fresh, family-friendly solutions for customers.
Starting this month, the multimedia campaign will make use of IGA’s retail media network, digital circulars and in-store promotions to promote watermelon as a healthy, fun and versatile choice for summer and holiday meals.
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The collaboration includes the following elements:
- Co-branded Retail Media Display Ads: Targeted ads driving shoppers to digital circulars and store shelves.
- In-store Shelf Tags: Branded tags to spotlight Watermelon Board content at participating IGA stores.
- Digital Engagement and Recipe Integration: Featuring IGA’s Family Meals Made Easy recipes on IGA.com and the Watermelon.org website, with national digital circular recipe blocks and newsletter inclusions.
- Holiday “Ugly Sweater” Sweepstakes: Watermelon-themed point-of-sale presence in IGA’s holiday sweepstakes campaign.
- Retailer Education: Amplified content through The IGA Minute eNewsletter, IGA’s Category Insights Hub and the Shopper Matters podcast promoting the Watermelon Board’s Learning Lab, along with gift card incentives.
“This partnership reflects our ongoing commitment to support independent retailers with best-in-class resources and fresh, engaging content that resonates with today’s shoppers,” said Michael La Kier, VP, brand development at Chicago-based IGA. “By teaming up with the Watermelon Board, we’re adding value both in-store and online — delivering fun, education and flavor to families across the country.”
With an estimated reach of 500 million-plus impressions every year through IGA’s national digital ad platform and more than 20 million impressions through the holiday program alone, the partnership illustrates the shared goal of IGA and the Watermelon Board: to help retailers succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace by enabling them to engage with shoppers in meaningful ways.
Founded in 1926, IGA is the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network, with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $43 billion annually. The alliance includes more than 7,500 stores worldwide, with operations in 46 of the United States and more than 25 countries.
Winter Spring, Fla.-based NWPB was established in 1989 as an agricultural promotion group to promote watermelon in the United States and in various markets abroad. Funded through a self-mandated industry assessment paid by almost 700 watermelon producers, handlers and importers, NWPB aims to boost consumer demand for watermelon through promotion, research and education programs.
