PFK Marking 10th Birthday With Year of Activities
In honor of its 10th birthday, Produce for Kids (PFK) is holding a yearlong celebration including healthy birthday-themed Ideal Meals, website enhancements, innovative social media initiatives, a media partnership with 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout, and a new and improved look and branding.
“We have reached two exciting milestones this year -- 10 years and $3.7 million dollars raised for children’s nonprofit organizations!” noted John Shuman, president of Orlando, Fla.-based PFK. “Produce for Kids can attribute our success to the support of our valued retailer and produce partners. We all share in the mission to support kids and families in our local communities.”
PFK chef Marshall O’Brien, will create all-new Ideal Meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, in addition to a series of healthy desserts to be included in the online recipe bank and in participating grocery stores during the “Get Healthy, Give Hope” campaign, which begins in May. The campaign will feature an unprecedented 19 grocery store retail divisions in more than 40 states, including Ahold USA’s Giant-Carlisle and Martin’s Food Stores, Giant-Landover, and Stop & Shop divisions; Associated Wholesale Grocers’ Major Savings, Advantage, Independent, Country Mart, Homeland and United divisions; Kroger’s Southwest, Central, Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic divisions, King Soopers, Smith’s, and Fred Meyer divisions; Meijer Inc.; Price Chopper; and Publix Super Markets.
“In celebration of our 10th birthday, we are introducing a new look and parent-friendly branding, which includes a new logo,” added PFK VP Kim Avola. “There will a strong focus this year on consumer brand awareness. Produce for Kids is a promotional campaign, but equally a year-round healthy eating resource for parents.”
The organization plans to connect with parents through such direct channels as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and now Sprout. Available in more than 50 million U.S. homes, Sprout, a partnership among NBCUniversal, PBS, Sesame Workshop and Apax Funds, is a digital channel aimed at preschoolers that promotes “Real Life Learning” by using the familiar framework of a preschooler’s day, encouraging learning opportunities found in everyday moments and integrating them into the themes, stories and characters kids love.
PFK will be featured in national TV spots on Sprout airing during the campaign; feature in the Sprout e-newsletter, which has more 650,000 subscribers; and have a presence on the network’s companion website, reaching 1 million visitors monthly. Consumers can also check parent-authored top-10 Lists on produce and healthy eating throughout the year.